Reese Witherspoon @ Beat the Odds Awards 2007

Reese Witherspoon stays covered up in her coat at The Children’s Defense Fund‘s 17th Annual Los Angeles Beat the Odds Awards at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday.

History: Reese first read Children’s Defense Fund Founders novel “The Measure of Our Success” during her year in Stanford University. Later, between the filming of Election and Legally Blonde, Reese went through “a little bit of a rough patch. It was before Legally Blonde, and I was having a hard time getting a job. There were all these questions about my weight, and I was asking myself, Why am I an actress? What is life about? So I started reading the book again, and I called the Children’s Defense Fund to see if I could help.” Since then Reese has regularly participated in voluntary fund-raising events, contributed financially, and donated all of the proceeds from the Legally Blonde Barbie Dolls and meets with each year’s college�”scholarship winners. Reese has also attended the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Annual Beat the Odds Awards.