by Anna Kendrick may be best known for her acclaimed acting work in films like “Pitch Perfect,” “Up In the Air,” and “A Simple Favor,” but few fans realize just how committed she is to philanthropy and social causes, particularly those related to children, education, and human rights. Over the course of her career, Kendrick has partnered with numerous non-profits and initiatives aimed at empowering those in need and creating positive systemic change. Here’s an in-depth look at some of Kendrick’s most prominent charitable efforts.
Children’s Miracle Network
One of Kendrick’s longest-standing philanthropic commitments has been to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals (CMN Hospitals). CMN Hospitals is a non-profit organization that raises funds for 170 pediatric hospitals across the United States and Canada. These member hospitals provide 32 million treatments each year to kids across North America seeking critical medical care.
Kendrick’s involvement with CMN Hospitals goes back over a decade. She first got involved in 2012 when she participated in the Dance Marathon event at UCLA on behalf of CMN Hospitals. She spent hours dancing and rallying college students to raise money for this important cause.
Since then, Kendrick has been an dedicated champion for CMN Hospitals, participating in hospital visits, fundraising concerts, social media awareness campaigns, and the CMN Hospitals Halo Awards.
In 2017, Kendrick attended the 30th anniversary party for the CMN Hospitals Halo Awards, serving as a presenter at the show which honored outstanding young patients and celebrated supporters like Kendrick who have made a significant impact. Kendrick relished the opportunity to meet some of the brave children who have benefited from the funds raised by CMN Hospitals over the years.
“It was unforgettable to meet these amazing kids,” she shared in an interview at the event. “They have endured so much, and thanks to CMN Hospitals, they are receiving lifesaving medical care. All of us can help by supporting this incredible organization.”
Kendrick continues to find new ways to support CMN Hospitals year after year. Photos and videos documenting her hospital visits consistently go viral, helping raise awareness of pediatric illness and injury. In 2019, she auctioned off a visit with her on the set of her HBO series “Love Life” with 100% of proceeds benefitting CMN Hospitals. Most recently, in 2021, Kendrick took to social media and held a matching campaign, using her personal funds to match every donation made to CMN Hospitals up to $25,000.
Thanks to generous donors and committed celebrity partners like Kendrick, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $7 billion to date, contributing critical funding to member hospitals across North America to provide compassionate and family-centered care to children.
The Trevor Project
Another cause close to Kendrick’s heart is suicide prevention, especially among LGBTQ youth. To support this vulnerable population, Kendrick works with The Trevor Project, which is the world’s largest suicide prevention and mental health organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning youth.
Kendrick held her first public fundraiser for The Trevor Project back in 2013 at her 29th birthday party. Instead of gifts for herself, she had attendees make donations to the organization. This successful event raised over $100,000.
Ever since then, Kendrick has continued to participate in TrevorLIVE fundraising galas, use her social media presence to publicize Trevor Project programs and resources, and promote donations around her birthday each year.
In 2016, Kendrick was honored with the Trevor Project’s Hero Award, given to public figures who empower youth. In her acceptance speech, Kendrick spoke passionately about why she is such an ardent supporter of The Trevor Project’s mission:
“To any young person out there who feels like they don’t belong or that it won’t get better—I promise you that it does. There is light for you. Stay with us. We need you, the world needs you.”
Kendrick reiterated this sentiment in a 2018 public service video she filmed for The Trevor Project’s website. Addressing struggling youth directly once again, she said:
“Don’t let anyone try to convince you that you don’t know your own truth. You define who you are. And you deserve to be safe and feel happy.”
As a result of Kendrick’s relentless promotion and partnership with The Trevor Project over the past decade, the organization has gained immense public visibility. Millions of dollars have been raised to expand free 24/7 crisis services while countless young people have found community support and learned about mental health resources.
DoSomething.org
A third organization Kendrick has aligned herself closely with is DoSomething.org—one of the largest organizations worldwide that helps young people make social change. What’s unique about DoSomething.org is the breadth of causes it addresses. The non-profit runs campaigns that support everything from animal rescue to criminal justice reform to reproductive health access.
Kendrick loves that she can partner with DoSomething.org to quickly mobilize awareness and impact around timely, critical issues that young people care about. Over the years, she has leveraged her platform during blocks of TV interviews along with her Twitter and Instagram feeds to directly promote diverse DoSomething.org campaigns spanning:
- Voter registration drives prior to U.S. elections
- Anti-cyberbullying summits
- Fundraising support for families experiencing homelessness
- Environmental conservation initiatives
- Advocacy for increased education budgets at the state level
Additionally, Kendrick has worked extensively with DoSomething.org on teen dating violence awareness campaigns. This is a relatively lesser known but vitally important cause that Kendrick wants to draw attention to.
In interviews, Kendrick has discussed her involvement with the “1 Thing” campaign from DoSomething.org, which asked young people to have courageous conversations about developing healthy relationships. Kendrick also headlined public panels on dating violence awareness, using her celebrity influence to decrease stigma so teens feel comfortable seeking support.
“I hope anyone out there who is struggling silently in an unhealthy relationship knows that they deserve help,” Kendrick said during a 2021 panel talk. “Organizations like DoSomething.org, and people like me, we want to be that help.”
Thanks to backing from big names like Kendrick, grants from corporate partners, and the power of everyday youth volunteers, DoSomething.org has been able to spark tremendous social progress over the years. Tens of millions of young people worldwide have joined DoSomething.org campaigns, donating hundreds of thousands of hours of their time to tackle pressing social problems and stand in solidarity with marginalized groups.
Education and Literacy Initiatives
While less publicized than her other social cause work, Kendrick is also a staunch advocate for the power of public education. From increasing funding for school districts to donating books to underfunded classrooms, Kendrick actively uses her platform to support teachers and encourage youth literacy.
Kendrick can speak first-hand about the vital role teachers play in shaping young lives. During her April 2018 guest stint co-hosting The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Kendrick shared fond stories about teachers who empowered her as a hesitant reader dealing with auditory processing disorder and ADHD in childhood.
In the years since appearing on that episode, Kendrick has taken numerous small acts behind the scenes to create her own uplifting moments for teachers and students nationwide. Whenever her film projects take her on location for months of shooting, Kendrick seeks out nearby Title I schools. She then spends her limited free time hand-delivering boxes of fresh books to stock shelves and expand the selection of reading material available to socioeconomically disadvantaged youth.
“Reading is one of life’s greatest joys, and it breaks my heart that some kids out there don’t have access to high-quality literature,” Kendrick told People Magazine in 2020 after dropping off children’s series installments like Diary of A Wimpy Kid and The Magic Treehouse to an elementary school in New Mexico.
Even when not directly donating books, Kendrick consistently uses Twitter and Instagram to drive public support for office supply drives, fundraising campaigns, and teacher wish list registries whenever she spots an opportunity to fill needed gaps.
More broadly, Kendrick also frequently speaks out via social media to condemn potential legislation that threatens to cut public education budgets or undermine resources for needy school districts. Most recently, in summer 2022, Kendrick penned an essay for The Hill calling on California’s governor and state legislature to reach agreement on a budget deal that equitably funds youth literacy programs.
As Kendrick wrote persuasively: “Reading proficiency among Californian students has dropped dramatically during the uncertainty of recent pandemic years. Without urgent action to shore up literacy resources and early reading supports, generationwide consequences loom.”
Although mostly unseen by the public eye, Kendrick has indeed established herself as an influential champion for public education funding and an avid proponent of youth literacy via her grassroots donation drives and savvy political commentary.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador
As Kendrick continued to develop her philanthropic focus in recent years, children’s rights and wellness beyond U.S. borders have become an increasingly important commitment. Styling herself as an activist and not just a celebrity fundraiser, Kendrick took on a global ambassador role with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in 2019.
UNICEF works in over 190 countries worldwide to bolster health, education, equality, and safety for children. As a brand ambassador, Kendrick has a platform to give public talks or media interviews highlighting UNICEF’s vital relief programs in emergency settings for vulnerable youth. She also engages politicians and high-net-worth donors she encounters to secure funding commitments for UNICEF projects on the ground providing supplies, services, and infrastructure.
For example, during a public UNICEF panel attended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021, Kendrick spoke about her firsthand experience visiting Rohingya refugee camps in coastal Bangladesh. Kendrick talked at length about heartbreaking conversations with young girls in the camps who fled alone across borders to escape ethnic violence erupting in neighboring Myanmar.
“These girls endured unfathomable hardship all on their own at just ten or eleven years old with almost no government safety net once arriving at camps,” Kendrick told attendees. “UNICEF workers have been doing heroic work providing counseling, safe shelters, healthcare, and community for refugee youth. But the need remains simply enormous.”
At Kendrick’s urging after the event, Trudeau’s administration ultimately approved $120 million in new grants from the Canadian federal budget for UNICEF programming assisting displaced children—well above typical annual donation averages.
“Ms. Kendrick’s eloquent first-person storytelling continues to produce an outsized impact,” shared UNICEF Canada’s Executive Director in a statement after learning of the funding achievement. “We’re extremely grateful for her partnership role elevating awareness of humanitarian needs affecting kids worldwide.”
Charity: Water
In alignment with her expanding international focus, clean water access has also become an important cause celebre for Kendrick over the past few years. Expanding on early support for Charity: Water campaigns, Kendrick traveled to Northern Uganda in 2020 to visit rural communities benefiting from safe water wells installed by the non-profit.
Founded in 2006, Charity: Water funds water projects in 29 developing countries using a 100% public model. Over the past 16 years, the organization has financed over 58,000 community water projects supplying clean drinking water to over 12 million people globally.
Joining a Charity: Water delegation visiting established well sites in Uganda, Kendrick used press interviews during her trip to discuss insufficient progress worldwide on UN Sustainable Development Goal #6 calling for universal safe water access by 2030. As Kendrick cited during a BBC Africa appearance:
“The world promised affordable drinking water for all by the end of this decade. But at current rates, billions will still lack basic access. I’m bringing visibility to Charity: Water because they do amazing work. Yet support from donors to accelerate and expand projects remains urgently needed so we reach every community.”
