I used to search trash bins for food: Viola Davis

`The Help` star Viola Davis says she was ashamed to talk about her childhood as the poor conditions surrounding her family sometimes forced her to search trash bins for food.

Los Angeles: `The Help` stars Viola Davis says she was ashamed to talk about her childhood as the poor conditions surrounding her family sometimes forced her to search trash bins for food.

The 48-year-old actress said she never had friends over as her house "was a condemned building, boarded up and infested with rats", reportedly. "I was one of those kids who grew up hungry. I`m 48 years old now, and it`s only been recently that I can admit that I would jump in trash bins looking for food and I would steal from the corner store because I was hungry," Davis said. "I would fall asleep in school on a daily basis because we had nothing," she added. Davis is now spearheading a campaign to raise awareness and funds to fight childhood hunger. She could attain education due to special food programmes which were instrumental in helping Davis achieve her dreams and goals. "I am the first generation of my family to go to college. Those programmes made all the difference for me," she added.