76 Time February 28/March 7, 2022“if you see a problem, fix iT.” ThaT’s how
humanitarian Orion Jean sums up his work, over
Zoom from his home in Mansfield, Texas. Just 11
years old, Jean is TIME’s Kid of the Year for 2021,
selected from a field of thousands. He sees him-
self as an ambassador for kindness— jumping in
wherever he sees a need. For Thanksgiving 2020,
he organized the donation and delivery of 100,000
meals to food-insecure families across the coun-
try. Over summer break, he got 500,000 books to
kids in their homes. And he always brings others
with him. At a time when isolation and division
are rampant, Jean sees the world as it could be if
more people brought their communities together
to help their neediest members.Angelina Jolie: I’ve met many different leaders
around the world, and one of the things that most
people forget is how to explain a simple truth about
what matters. That’s why I’m
so impressed with you. You
really reminded me of that.Orion Jean: Thank you. That
means a lot coming from you.Jolie: Will you explain the
focus of your work and how
it came about?Jean: I’ve always been able to, when I get home from
school, just watch the news with my parents and
find out what’s going on in the world. And when the
pandemic began, I saw a lot of things were happen-
ing; people were losing their jobs and losing access
to food and homes and all of these essential things.
And I knew right then that I wanted to do some-
thing to help, but the opportunity actually came
around when my teacher suggested that I enter into
a speech contest. And if I won the prize money
that came with the contest, that means I could
start a kindness initiative to help these people.Jolie: What is a kindness initiative?Jean: Well, to me, it can be a number of things. And
the one that I started was the race to kindness. The
race to kindness is not just a series of events, but
also a call to action. It’s a way to get people involved
in the community, you know, and when they seesomething happening now they can go out and do
something about it.Jolie: You wrote that kindness is about a choice,
which I think is so important. It’s something that’s
attainable, that everybody can choose to do right
now. How would you suggest someone do that?Jean: Well, you’re absolutely right, kindness is a
choice, and while we can’t force others to be kind,
we can be kind ourselves and hope to inspire
other people. So many people have great ideas
but never act on them. I think it’s all about really
caring about the issues that you’re seeing. Some-
one told me that you have to find something that
breaks your heart for you to really get out there
and make a difference in that area. And I want oth-
ers to know that they can start today. If there’s an
issue or problem or something that they see that
they want to solve, all it takes
is really just knowing deep
down inside that it’s some-
thing you care about, and you
can go out and get started.Jolie: I really love that. And
you’re right about what
breaks your heart. I think
when you’re a caring person,
you realize there’s so much happening in the world,
and then you don’t know where to start or what to
do. I think, at the center for me was working with
refugees, and that was what broke my heart. So I
think you’re exactly right, people can really pay at-
tention to what moves them.
What do your friends think about all of this?
Do they join you?Jean: Well, a lot of them don’t really know much
about what I’ve done, but I hope that if they see
something on the news and are like, “Hey, I know
him!” hopefully that inspires them to know that,
“Hey, a kid like me can go out and really make
an impact.” It’s not about me; I’m just a vessel to
spread kindness and to help others spread kind-
ness in their communities as well.Jolie: It feels very nice to be in your presence. You
really do have a gift of sharing this warmth and this
kindness. Do you ever feel sometimes overwhelmed‘While we can’t force
others to be kind,
we can be kind ourselves
and hope to inspire
other people.’Orion JeanAmbassador for kindnessMANSFIELD, TEXAS / 11
Kid of the Year