. >> reporter: in los angeles, unicef, united nations children's fund honored salma hayak with the danny> and it takes so little to make big, big changes. >> reporter: it is recognition for all she has done for more than a decade on behalf of women and children around the world. it is hard to decide who should get money. >> so many people need it. how should we spend. it is the best, it is the best question. it is, finding who can you help the most. who can you help the best. and through who can you be the most effective. >> how did you become an activist? >> it is a very strange question. my head thinks, why don't you? >> she helped raise more than $700,000 for relief efforts after the earthquake in mexico last september. in 2015, she visited syrian refugees in lebanon. and in 2008, here she is in sierra leon where tetanus was a leading cause of death among mothers and babies. during the trip, a 15-year-old mother approached her with a hungry baby just a few days old. >> i have no money. i have no food to give him. i have nothing. she was sobbing. and i said, i have got milk. because, i