The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited young people from diverse backgrounds all across North America. Established in 2001 by author T.A. Barron, the Barron Prize annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive impact on people, animals or the environment.  Fifteen top winners each receive $10,000 to support their service work or higher education.

Here are some of the great things that recent Barron Prize winners and honorees have done to help the Earth and wildlife:

Addison Barrett, age 11, of Maryland founded Gorilla Heroes to raise awareness and funds to protect endangered mountain gorillas. She has helped raise more than $7,000 for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and The Ellen Fund by selling homemade cookies and lemonade and hosting her annual Gorilla Gala.

Anna Du, age 13, of Massachusetts invented a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) that detects microplastics on the ocean floor. She has also written a children’s book, Microplastics and Me, and has raised more than $7,000 to distribute it free to children and libraries in high-need communities.

Charlie Abrams and Jeremy Clark, ages 15 and 14, of Oregon, co-founded Affected Generation, a youth-led non-profit working to fight climate change and to help implement effective climate policy, including Oregon’s Clean Energy Jobs bill.

Emma Angeletti, age 17, of Florida co-founded back2earth, a non-profit that reduces the amount of food waste in landfills by providing a free, weekly household composting service to more than 100 families in Miami.

Jamie Margolin, age 17, of Washington founded Zero Hour, a non-profit international youth climate justice movement. Her 2018 Youth Climate March brought hundreds of youth to Washington, D.C. and inspired 25 sister marches around the world.

Joseph Goldstein, age 18, of Illinois founded Kids for the Boundary Waters to lead young people in protecting the Boundary Waters from sulfide-ore copper mines proposed along the wilderness edge that would cause irreparable damage.

Maanasa Mendu, age 16, of Ohio invented HARVEST, an inexpensive and globally applicable renewable energy device. It is made primarily of recycled materials costing less than $5.00 and can power a 15-watt LED bulb.

Neil Deshmukh, age 16, of Pennsylvania created an app called PlantumAI to help farmers in developing countries easily identify and treat crop disease, allowing them to maximize yields and reduce their need for toxic pesticides.

Will and Matthew Gladstone, ages 14 and 11, of Massachusetts co-founded the Blue Feet Foundation to help save the Blue-Footed Booby. The brothers have sold over 10,000 pairs of bright blue socks to raise more than $80,000 to fund research to study the bird’s decline in the Galapagos Islands.

Taegen Yardley age 16, of Vermont  is a wildlife activist created five documentary films to raise awareness about our planet’s most critically endangered species and the impact of decreasing biodiversity.

Kate Williams, age 9, of Texas wrote a book to inspire her generation to advocate for animals facing extinction.

Fall 2020 will mark the 20th anniversary of the Barron Prize. As part of the anniversary celebration, the Barron Prize will present the Young Heroes Summit in October, bringing together past winners to share their experiences and inspire today’s youth through a series of panel discussions and presentations. Since its inception, the Barron Prize has honored nearly 450 young heroes and has won the support of Girl Scouts of the USA, Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots, and the National Youth Leadership Council, among other organizations.

For more information, visit www.barronprize.org.

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