The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, which recognizes public-spirited youth in the U.S. and Canada, is now accepting applications for its 2020 awards.
The Barron Prize honors 25 inspiring leaders ages 8 to 18 who are working in creative ways to help their communities or protect the planet. The top 15 winners receive $10,000 to support their service project or higher education.
“The purpose of the Barron Prize is to showcase young heroes of all descriptions, inspiring other young people to take action,” says author T.A. Barron, who founded the award in 2001, naming it after his mother.
Two local teens were among the winners of the 2019 Barron Prize. Addison Barrett of Germantown, Maryland, who was 11 when she won, founded Gorilla Heroes to raise awareness and funds to help save endangered mountain gorillas. Since 2017 she has raised more than $11,300 through fundraising, including selling homemade cookies and lemonade, designing and selling T-shirts and organizing an annual Gorilla Gala.
After learning about the high cost of relief food while volunteering in Malawi, Garyk Brixi of Potomac, Maryland, spent five years developing a less expensive option to address malnutrition that could be produced using local crops.
“My work does not end here,” said Brixi when he won at 18 years old. “I’ll continue striving to make nutritious food more readily available to starving children around the world.”
To learn more about the 20th Annual Barron Prize and apply online, visit barronprize.org.
This post originally appeared in our February 2020 issue.
