Award-Winning actress headlines dinner program for Prevention Education Golf Classic
FAIRMONT, W.Va. — Award winning actress, businesswoman and philanthropist Jennifer Garner will deliver the Keynote Address at the fourth annual GameChanger Prevention Education Dinner and Golf Classic May 22-23 at the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.
Garner will headline the dinner program – kicking off the two-day affair. Since 2021, this annual event has raised money for GameChanger Prevention Education Programs in West Virginia schools. Garner joins a distinguished list of former keynote speakers including former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, award-winning country music artist Brad Paisley and former North Carolina Hall of Fame and national championship basketball coach Roy Williams.
“This is just another example of a West Virginian who has achieved greatness remembering where they came from and proving it by coming back to help a worthy cause in the state,” said Governor Jim Justice, GameChanger head coach. “Jennifer is a talented artist who emanates class, and I am thrilled she has agreed to come to this year’s event.”
Garner is known for her versatility in a wide range of starring-roles in Alias, Dallas Buyers Club, Love Simon, Juno, and more. Most recently, she executive produced and starred in the hit Apple TV+ limited series The Last Thing He Told Me and the hit Netflix comedy features Family Switch and Yes Day. As a philanthropist, Garner is a Save the Children trustee and has worked with the organization since 2008. In 2014, Garner joined the global non-profit’s board of trustees, deepening her commitment to issues affecting children in America and around the world. In 2017, Garner co-founded the leading childhood nutrition company Once Upon a Farm. As Chief Brand Officer, she has helped grow the company with the goal of providing organic, crave-worthy snacks and meals for children of all ages.
GameChanger founder and Executive Director Joe Boczek is thrilled that Garner will be delivering this year’s keynote address. “Jennifer’s love and care for children is evidenced by the time and dedication she spends working and serving on the board of trustees for Save The Children. She is aware of how opioid and substance misuse and the deadly Fentanyl scourge are killing our kids and destroying our communities. Her willingness to travel across the country to be with us for one event speaks not only to how much she cares about her home state, but more importantly, to the kind of person she is.”
GameChanger chairman of the board Larry Puccio feels the continued success of GameChanger is key to providing youth in West Virginia, and soon in other states, an opportunity to succeed in life by staying drug free. He stated, “Prevention education is really the only way to keep our kids drug free and, quite frankly, to save their lives. This effort requires resources, but if GameChanger saves the life of one child, it is well worth it. Jennifer Garner is a class act whose love of children is well documented and whose desire to give back is her trademark. I am just elated she has agreed to deliver the keynote at our biggest fundraiser of the year.”
The GameChanger prevention education program is currently in more than 50 schools in 18 West Virginia counties with additional schools planned for next year, as well as expansion into Kentucky and Tennessee. The youth-led positive development and community enhancement initiative is designed to educate, support, and empower West Virginia’s young people to live healthy, drug-free lifestyles while preparing to be our leaders tomorrow.
The GameChanger-produced documentary One Pill Can Kill has won more than 15 national and international awards at film festivals from Los Angeles to Reims, France. It is provided to all middle and high schools in West Virginia at no cost.
For more information on GameChanger, or to purchase a limited number of tickets to the GameChanger dinner featuring Jennifer Garner’s keynote address, go to www.gamechangerusa.org
