Texas Fifth Grader Starts Drive To Donate 100K Meals

Fort Worth, Texas 5th grader Orion Jean started a drive with the goal of donating thousands of meals to people in need by Thanksgiving. “I’m asking everyone to join me in a race to kindness,” Orion said. “This has been a rough year for everybody, and now it’s more important than ever to show support and love to anyone who needs it.” Orion began collecting donations earlier this week and has already received nearly 4,000 meals.

In addition to the work Orion is doing on his own, the Race to 100,000 Meals food drive will be be accepting food donations from the public on October 24. Those making donations are asked to bring packed meals containing 1 bottle of water, 2 tangerines or 1 apple in a zipped sandwich bag, 1 applesauce cup or tuna pouch, and 1 packaged granola bar. The contents should be inside a brown paper bag with a positive message written on it.

Over the summer, Orion won the Think Kindness National Speech contest, where he urged others to show compassion through action. The premise of the National Kindness Speech Contest was to give students a platform to not only let their voices be heard, but to let them inspire thousands, maybe millions of people! Over 85 students from across North America submitted to our National Kindness Speech Contest, which was narrowed down to the top 20. From there, each contestant was paired with a professional youth speaker to help them improve their speech before going public.

As champion, he was given $500 to start his own kindness project where he went on to collect toys for hospitalized children. On Sept. 13, Jean donated more than 600 toys to Children’s Health in Dallas for hospitalized children. He said it was made possible through a team effort and the grand prize he won for once again, being kind.

I have already seen how kindness can change a nation. Whether it is a wave to a stranger, saying a kind word to others or even offering to pay for someone’s meal, every gesture can go a long way in helping to brighten someone else’s day. That’s why I wanted to create my “Race to Kindness” events, where each step taken is an opportunity to change the world through kindness. The best part is, “Everybody Wins!”-Orion Jean. Jean’s message to anyone who will listen? “A little act of kindness and a little seed can go a long way,” Jean said.

Race to 100,000 Meals is partnering with Tango Tab to help collect and distribute meals until 11/25/20 to people in need. They could use support in dropping off your prepared meals or setting up your own ‘food drop-off’ event. They also welcome donations to help purchase food and supplies for the meals. They are accepting donations via Cash App and Pay Pal