5th Grader Wants To Deliver 100,000 Meals By Thanksgiving

FORT WORTH, TX — A 10-year-old Fort Worth boy has an ambitious charitable goal this Thanksgiving, but ambition and charity are nothing new for Orion Jean.

Orion wants to donate 100,000 meals to people in need across Texas by Thanksgiving Day, according to a CNN report. The "Race to 100K Meals" project is part of the "Race to Kindness" initiative the fifth grader started on his own.

For the meal initiative, Orion is partnering with TangoTab, a non-profit that helps feed the hungry by "connecting diners with restaurants' empty seats."

Meals include a bottle of water, fresh fruit and a granola bar, according to CNN. Thousands have already taken part in the donation effort.

A number of drop-off locations and events for donations have been held as part of Orion's initiative since early October, and a final one is set for Thanksgiving morning in Arlington.

The meal donations come on the heels of Orion's effort that led to more than 600 toys donated to the Children's Health Hospital in Plano. Orion's kindness project was started as a result of "everything negative" that came from the coronavirus pandemic earlier in the year.

"I was looking around at all of the things that have been going on, and everything negative we hear in the news," Orion told CNN. "I knew that helping people could have an impact — it was what we needed right now."

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