Jennifer Hudson has distributed over 2,000 backpacks of school supplies to disadvantaged children.
The ‘Spotlight’ hitmaker and her sister Julia were joined by a group of volunteers for their 10th annual Hatch Day in Chicago on Friday (14.08.20), which saw them help out kids in need via their Julian D. King Gift Foundation, even though they had to do things differently this year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jennifer explained in a video shared to Instagram: "We’re still out there this Hatch Day, just in a different way. We’re going to hit these streets and sneak up on y’all. And we’re going to drive by with backpacks, because we don’t need crowds this year, but we will want to make sure we service the children.
"We’re getting out there. Everybody is out here working, making it happen.
"Drop your location, and we’re going to drop you a backpack and school supplies for what you need during this pandemic, because our kids still gotta go and grow to school. And we support that."
Hatch Day takes place on what would have been Jennifer’s nephew Julian’s birthday but he was tragically murdered, along with the 38-year-old star’s mother and brother.
And the ‘Dreamgirls’ actress and her sister – who was Julian’s mother – made sure they took the time to honour him.
Sharing photos from their celebration of what would have been her relative’s 19th birthday, Jennifer – who has 11-year-old David with former partner David Otunga – wrote on Instagram: "Oh but we made it thru it all! Although it was very different this year with all that’s going on ! We went to @juleyah house and celebrated #Julian d.king bday , he woulda been 19 ! My munch made his cousin cake , which made it even more special !
"On this Hatch day many kids in chicago was still blessed ! Happy heavenly birthday nephew !! We will always honor and uphold your memory ! Until next time guys ! P.s I been around these kids to long ! Haha."
The Julian D. King Gift Foundation was established in honor of the youngster to provide stability, support and positive experiences for children of all backgrounds to help enable them to grow to be productive, confident and happy adults.
Every year, the charity collects and distributes school supplies and Christmas presents, and this year, as well as the usual backpacks, they also distributed hand sanitiser, face masks and tablets to students.