Actress Viola Davis broke down in tears onstage when she admitted the "immense shame" she felt for her impoverished childhood during an acceptance speech on Friday (10Oct14).

The Help star was honoured for her work with anti-poverty charity Hunger Is at Variety magazine's Power of Women luncheon in Beverly Hills.

As she accepted the award, she told the audience why the organisation is so close to her heart, saying, "Although my childhood was filled with many happy memories, it was also spent in abject poverty.

"I was one of the 17 million kids in this country who didn't know where the next meal was coming from... And I did everything to get food... I've stolen for food, I've jumped in huge garbage bins with maggots for food, I have befriended people in the neighborhood who I knew had mothers who cooked three meals a day for food... And I sacrificed a childhood for food... and grew up in immense shame."

Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda were also honoured for their humanitarian work at the luncheon.