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or sad when people are unkind or you see cruelty?
Jean: Absolutely. I think that one of the things
about being kind is that you perk up when you
hear other people being unkind or when you hear
about people that aren’t doing the right thing.
And it makes you sad inside. And like I said, kind-
ness is a choice; you can’t force anyone else to be
kind. You hope that by inspiring other people to
spread kindness that they will somehow see it
and, you know, change their ways and be more
kind in the future.
Jolie: It feels better to be kind, doesn’t it? It’s just a
nicer way of communicating with each other.
Jean: Yeah, I think that kindness sometimes can
just be as easy as not being mean to someone.
Not talking about someone behind their back
or posting that mean comment on social media.
That’s what kindness can be; it can just be as sim-
ple as not being cruel to someone.
Jolie: That’s great advice. So I know also you’re
a reader, and that you also started an initiative
around books. Tell me that story.
Jean: Well, I’ve always loved books ever since I
can remember. I’ve always had a book in my hand
waking up, going to bed. And I knew that after
the race to 100,000 meals, which was another
initiative that I’d done, I knew that I wanted to
be able to do something bigger that would reach
more people. I’ve always been trying to get my
friends to like, you know, “Read this book with
me!” or “We’re gonna do, like, a mini book club,”
or something. But now that I have the platform,
I wanted to be able to reach more people, and to
me literacy is something that can get you off the
ground. It can allow you to eventually get that
good job or out of that neighborhood. Or maybe
it’s just a way for you to escape from your every-
day life, and to read a new story about a new cul-
ture or a new person, and find out something that
you didn’t know before.
Some kids don’t have access to any books, really.
I mean, they live in areas that we call book deserts.
And I wanted to—maybe not eliminate them, but
make those areas smaller, or at least get books out
to those areas. I wanted to be able to partner with
organizations in those communities.
I did not do this by myself; it took a whole team
behind me: my parents, my family, all of the gen-
erous corporate donors and organizations that we
partnered with, and strangers that I’ve never even
met. They are all donating because they feel com-
pelled to help those in their community.
Jolie: Did you meet the beneficiaries of the book
drive?
Jean: Unfortunately, that’s one of the parts of the
pandemic that was tough. We did have to distrib-
ute the books, and a couple times I’ve been able to
see kids pick out their own books, and that really
put a smile on my face just to see these books put
a smile on theirs.
Jolie: A lot of adults are sitting around these days
thinking, “I wish there was better leadership.” I
know you’ve even written a book on leadership. Do
you recognize that you might be a leader one day?
You already are, at 11. But do you think of your fu-
ture and what you might want to be?
Jean: I hope that whatever I do, I will be able to
With the help of
his community,
Jean assembled
and distributed
100,000 meals
to families in
need in fall 2020
COURTESY FAMILY
