At the charity gala which was hosted by Jennifer, the 'Gone Girl' actor was honored with the Global Child Advocate Award for establishing the Eastern Congo Initiative.
- Nov 21, 2014
AceShowbiz - Ben Affleck was honored with the Global Child Advocate Award at the Save the Children Illumination Gala, the annual charity event which was hosted by his wife Jennifer Garner, on Wednesday, November 19 in New York City. Ben received the award for establishing the Eastern Congo Initiative.
Before receiving the award, Ben praised Jennifer who dedicated her time to raise their three kids while maintaining her career and charity work. He said, "She's been really smart about choosing her projects, doing 'Dallas Buyers Club' or 'Alexander and the Terrible [Horrible, No Good, Very Bad] Day', smart, good movies that luckily have been successful. And then, they're not so time-consuming that she can't do this work and be there for our kids, which is the most important thing to her."
The co-founder of the Eastern Congo Initiative added, "My work is in Central Africa, is of a much smaller scope and it has to do with a different set of problems-maternal health, sexually based violence, education-and it is in a different kind of environment. Tonight it is important to talk about Save the Children and what Jennifer does."
"She is spending her time in the trailers and in living rooms with children in West Virginia, Kentucky and the Central Valley of California, who are United States citizens and whose education is horrible-it is unspeakably bad. She believes, as I do, that we're too wealthy a country, too good a country, to fail our children in this way," he said of his wife.
During his acceptance speech, Ben also publicly commented on his recent debate over Islam with Bill Maher. "I was ultimately making a 'Sesame Street' argument. You don't judge a whole group of people based on the actions of a few," he said.
Ben was not afraid to speak his mind when it comes to hot-button issues. "That's the environment around my dinner table when we talk politics," he shared, "I think I'd rather tell the truth and say what I believe in and make people unhappy than sort of pretend to think something else to accommodate them and try to be liked. That's just the way it goes and I don't think I'm any great champion of anything, but if they're going to put me on a show, I'm going to say what I think."
Other honorees at the event were former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Austin Hearst and Aziza Begum. Tony received the Global Legacy Award, Austin was honored with the Humanitarian Award, while Aziza was awarded with the Global Child Service Award.
