{"id":33325,"date":"2026-10-06T17:10:27","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:10:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=33325"},"modified":"2026-10-06T17:10:27","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T17:10:27","slug":"in-2020-texas-boy-orion-jean-used-a-500-speech-contest-prize-to-launch-a-kindness-drive-it-grew-from-more-than-600-toys-to-100000-meals-and-500000-books-and-he-is-now-pursuing-one-million-acts-o","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/?p=33325","title":{"rendered":"In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness | World News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"e9jwa\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"GfdvZ\">\n<section class=\"_bIDB  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  E9tg9 \" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"_bIDB\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"ypVvZ\">\n<div class=\"WGttI\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-134744872,imgsize-1307992,width-400,height-225,resizemode-4\/orion-jean.jpg\" alt=\"In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\" title=\"In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\/Image: Instagram\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"Ta7d_ img_cptn\"><span title=\"In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\/Image: Instagram\">In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\/Image: Instagram<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>A $500 prize from a school speech contest led a Texas teenager to launch a toy drive for children at a local hospital<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"1\"\/>Orion Jean,15, is the founder of Race to Kindness, a youth-led initiative that encourages people to identify needs around them and respond through practical acts of service. <!-- -->He was named TIME\u2019s 2021 Kid of the Year and has gone on to become an author and public speaker.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"5\"\/>The idea began in 2020, when Jean took part in a national kindness speech contest. In his speech, he argued that kindness was something anyone could practise and that people could choose to act rather than wait for someone else to make a difference.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"7\"\/>Jean told Reading Is Fundamental (RIF), a non-profit children&#8217;s literacy organization in the United States, that winning the contest became the \u201ccatalyst\u201d for something much bigger. <!-- -->He used the $500 prize as seed money for his first project, Race to 500 Toys.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"12\"\/>With help from his community, Jean collected more than 600 toys for a local hospital, according to his account of the initiative.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"14\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3><b>From toys to meals<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>The first campaign was followed by a much larger effort to address food insecurity.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>Jean launched the Race to 100,000 Meals with the support of volunteers, corporate donors and a local nonprofit organisation. The campaign collected more than 100,000 meals for families facing food insecurity in Texas, he said in an interview with RIF.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>The scale of the projects changed, but Jean said the basic idea remained the same: identify a problem and find people willing to help address it.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>That approach eventually led him to focus on children&#8217;s access to books.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/>Jean has described reading as a major influence on how he understands other people and the world around him. In the interview, he said books allow him to experience different cultures and perspectives and \u201cwalk in someone else\u2019s shoes\u201d.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"27\"\/>His next campaign, Race to 500,000 Books, eventually exceeded its target. As per RIF, the initiative resulted in more than half a million books being donated to school districts, nonprofits and children through Race to Kindness free book fairs held across the US.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"29\"\/>Jean has said he wants children to have the same access to books that he had growing up.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"31\"\/><\/p>\n<p><h3><b>Why books became the next target<\/b><\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<p>For Jean, the book campaign was not simply about putting more books into children&#8217;s hands. <!-- -->He connected access to reading with a child&#8217;s ability to learn, explore different perspectives and develop a broader understanding of the world.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"36\"\/>Jean said his own interest in reading helped shape many of his experiences. He argued that every child should have access to books.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"39\"\/>The campaign also involved RIF, Jean later partnered with the organisation for reading events, including a nationwide Read Across America Day programme.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"42\"\/>His work with books has become one of the defining parts of Race to Kindness. The organisation says its broader efforts have included more than 500,000 books, more than 100,000 meals and hundreds of toys distributed to children in hospitals and underserved communities.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"44\"\/>Jean has written <span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">A Kids Book About Leadership<\/span> and <span class=\"em\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">Race to Kindness<\/span>, using books to extend the message behind his community work.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"50\"\/>He has also said that his long-term interests include storytelling through writing or directing, although he has not settled on a specific career path.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"52\"\/>The next target for Race to Kindness is significantly larger than the campaigns that came before it: one million acts of kindness.<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/world\/us\/in-2020-texas-boy-orion-jean-used-a-500-speech-contest-prize-to-launch-a-kindness-drive-it-grew-from-more-than-600-toys-to-100000-meals-and-500000-books-and-he-is-now-pursuing-one-million-acts-of-kindness\/articleshow\/134744599.cms\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\/Image: Instagram A $500 prize from a school speech contest led a Texas teenager to launch a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33326,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-31"],"magazineBlocksPostFeaturedMedia":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","medium_large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","1536x1536":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","2048x2048":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-small":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-small-tall":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-small-square":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-small-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-medium":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-medium-masonry":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-large":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg","blogsy-wide":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg"},"magazineBlocksPostAuthor":{"name":"admin","avatar":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g"},"magazineBlocksPostCommentsNumber":"0","magazineBlocksPostExcerpt":"In 2020, Texas boy Orion Jean used a $500 speech-contest prize to launch a kindness drive; it grew from more than 600 toys to 100,000 meals and 500,000 books, and he is now pursuing one million acts of kindness\/Image: Instagram A $500 prize from a school speech contest led a Texas teenager to launch a [&hellip;]","magazineBlocksPostCategories":["\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36"],"magazineBlocksPostViewCount":1,"magazineBlocksPostReadTime":4,"magazine_blocks_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg",400,225,false],"medium":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg",300,169,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/orion-jean.jpg",150,84,false]},"magazine_blocks_author":{"display_name":"admin","author_link":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/author\/admin"},"magazine_blocks_comment":0,"magazine_blocks_author_image":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8709732a479614e7a8aa24d3eb1b239f30dc6d90c61464ed495001e7a469d856?s=96&d=mm&r=g","magazine_blocks_category":"<a href=\"#\" class=\"category-link category-link-31\">\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36 \u0b2c\u0b3f\u0b26\u0b47\u0b36<\/a>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33325"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33325\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/33326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/koshalsambada.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}