With unemployment still at high-levels as a result of the economic fallout of the pandemic, more folk than ever are struggling to make ends meet. This is particularly true as we enter the holiday season, including in the United States both Thanksgiving and Christmas.
One 5-th-grader in North Texas is playing his part though in making sure people from disadvantaged backgrounds get what they need. Orion Jean is on a mission to organise and deliver 100,000 meals across the state. With a little help from his family and his local community a drop off centre has been created where people can make donations, and so far they have been flowing in from kind-hearted Texans.
"I'm asking everyone to join me in a race to kindness. This has been a rough year for everybody, and now it's more important than ever to show support and love to anyone who needs it. The difficult situations impacting our world has shown us that kindness is more important now than ever before. We've heard about the families hurting from this pandemic; the communities suffering injustice, and the people being OVER virtual learning… We could really use a big hug right now. And that's just it. Kindness is like spreading hugs around the world to those who need it and those who might not even know they need it. The acts could be something small, but in the end, make a big difference to the person receiving it."
It isn't the first time Orion has made the news with his ideas regarding goodwill. Last year he won the Think Kindness National Speech Contest, which can be seen here:
He then used the $500 prize-money from the contest to run a toy-drive for children in hospital.
The number of American families struggling due to the economic fallout of the pandemic is still increasing as businesses close their doors and consumer spending falls dramatically. At the height of the pandemic, as many as 50 million Americans, 15%, were filling for unemployment. This number of unemployed Americans was not even seen during the financial crisis of 2008. Those who have been lucky enough to stay in work have seen their incomes fall as hours are cut and as the self-employed lose customers.
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