Lori Loughlin reflects on being `down and broken' on telethon for nonprofit
Perhaps signaling Lori Loughlin's acceptance back into the Hollywood fold, the disgraced “Full House” star joined Oprah Winfrey, Sharon Stone and Whoopi Goldberg and other celebrities on a Los Angeles-based telethon Saturday, talking about her weekly commitment to delivering food to people in need since leaving federal prison.
Loughlin, 57, was a featured guest on KTLA Channel 5's “Lead With Love 3 telethon” to promote the Project Angel Food nonprofit in Los Angeles. Once known for her wholesome Aunt Becky image, Loughlin became tearful on the telethon as she talked about “people who have hit a low in their life.” It is the first on-air statement she's made since serving two months in the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin in late 2020 for her role in the college admissions scandal.
“It is a community, it is a family, and all the people that work here are just so wonderful. They have welcomed me with such open arms at a time when I was feeling particularly down and broken,” said Loughlin, wearing the bright blue T-shirt with the Project Angel Food logo. “That's how I found a home here, and that's what I feel like they did for me,” Loughlin continued. “And that's why I'm so proud to be here and working with this organization. Because they really do care. It's really a community.”
Project Angel Food delivers food to people with serious illness. Loughlin appeared in a segment that followed a “day in the life of a Project Angel Food volunteer.” She talked about packing up cereal and fruit into bags for delivery, then is seen driving to people's homes, greeting them and handing them their bags or leaving them on the front porch. She also greeted one Project Angel Food client with a hug.
“It's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life,” Loughlin said. “I have the same delivery route every week. I see the same people. They are often unable to leave their homes. They are somewhat isolated. There's just that human connection and spending time with them, asking `How are you doing? How are you feeling?' ”
Loughlin's reputation as the beloved the star of “Full House” and the Hallmark Channel was pretty much destroyed when she and her husband Mossimo Giannulli were arrested in the college admissions scandal in March 2019. The Hollywood power couple were accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to get their daughters, Isabella and Olivia Jade, fraudulently admitted to the University of Southern California on the pretense of being talented crew athletes.