THE KINDNESS KID
The Road to Becoming TIME Magazine ’ s Kid of the Year
Orion Jean and his family never knew the journey that would begin when he entered a national speech contest on a whim in 2020 . After receiving only 24-hours notice about the competition , Orion wrote , memorized and recorded a 90-second kindness speech .
He won the first place prize — money that would be used to spread kindness to others — and that ’ s when his life ’ s mission started to become a bit clearer .
Orion launched a Race to Kindness campaign , which he used to collect and distribute 100,000 meals to food-insecure families , toys to children in local hospitals and books for kids who didn ’ t have any at home .
The now-sixth grader at Alma Martinez Intermediate School forged on with his philosophy being “ if you see a problem , fix it .” With the impact he has made within just a couple of years , Orion was selected in February 2022 out of more than 5,000 nominees to become TIME Magazine ’ s 2021 Kid of the Year .
“ One thing that I ’ ve been able to take away from this experience is that anything is possible ,” he said . “ When communities come together , when people come together , when there ’ s a common cause that we can all believe in , great things can happen .”
Orion attended Nickelodeon ’ s Kid of the Year event , hosted by Trevor Noah .
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