Today's Youth Making a Meaningful Impact - Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes Announces 2024 Winners

BOULDER, Colo., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, a national award that recognizes inspiring, public-spirited young people, announces its 2024 winners. 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 difference to other people and the environment. Every year, fifteen top winners are each awarded $10,000 to support their service work or higher education.

In his books, T. A. Barron explores the idea that we all possess an inner light that can brighten the path before us and inspire those around us. Barron Prize winners are using their light to make the world a better place and serve as examples for us all. 

"Leading a meaningful life involves leaving a positive mark on the world," says T. A. Barron. "It includes embracing every moment, experience, and connection as an opportunity to make a difference. I am so proud of these young Barron Prize winners who are living life with purpose and showing others what is possible."

This year's Barron Prize winners include youth who are protecting ecosystems; helping the formerly incarcerated; promoting STEM in schools; feeding those in need; developing cancer treatments; addressing climate change, and more. Here are the 2024 winners and their impressive accomplishments:

Adeline Smith, age 17, of Idaho co-founded Growing the STEM, a nonprofit that creates math and science after-school programs for students in 14 underserved Idaho schools. Her programs include Mathletes, STEAM Club, Engineering Club, STEM Book Club, and Chess Club. Middle and high school students serve as volunteer coaches for the clubs, with support from adult teachers at each school.

Artash Nath, age 18, of Toronto, Canada created MonitorMyOcean.com to investigate how human activities affect underwater ocean noise and marine mammals, particularly whales. His system uses data from hydrophones (underwater microphones) to estimate human-caused ocean noise, which disrupts whales' communication and navigation.

Arya Gurumukhi, age 15, of Texas invented a novel catalyst to improve upon the Bionic Leaf technology, a solar-powered device that mimics photosynthesis to create a highly efficient, alcohol-based fuel from just water, sunlight, and bacteria. She envisions her clean, sustainable energy source as a way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, mitigate climate change, and reduce energy insecurity.

Cash Daniels, age 14, of Tennessee protects freshwater ecosystems and has removed more than 35,000 pounds of trash from the Tennessee River, the world's most microplastics-polluted river. He has partnered with Tennessee State Parks to place more than 150 fishing line collection bins across the state, protecting waterways and the animals who easily become entangled in the line.

Charlotte Rosario, age 17, of California founded the Community Photobooth to use the power of youth and photography to support vital causes and improve communities. Her collective of young photographers has held more than 550 donation-based photoshoots to raise over $40,000 for global causes.

Clelia Poujade, age 17, of Illinois established Hands Together to Feed Chicago (HTTFC) to cook nutritious meals for those in need. She and her team of 15 volunteers have prepared and served over 8,000 meals and desserts for guests at shelters in and around Chicago. All of the meals she serves are made from scratch using her own recipes.

Ekansh Mittal, age 17, of Oregon has worked for five years to improve outcomes for cancer patients through scientific research. He has focused his efforts on three initiatives: improving the early detection of cancer, discovering new personalized treatments, and enhancing the success rate of clinical trials and medicines.

Elizabeth Djajalie, age 18, of Alaska passionately protects Alaska's ecosystems and way of life by conducting research to help conserve Pacific salmon. She also leads the student arm of the Alaska Science and Engineering Fair (ASEF), a statewide nonprofit that supports STEM education for Alaska youth.

Esther Bonney, age 17, of Maryland founded Nurture Natives to protect native species. Her nonprofit educates adults and children about the increasing problems non-natives pose to agriculture, pollinators, and homeowners. Her youth-led group hosts plant giveaways across Maryland where they have distributed more than 47,000 native seedlings and 550 sapling trees and shrubs.

Genshu Price, age 16, of Hawaii created Bottles4College to recycle cans and bottles, using the proceeds to help students in Hawaii attend college. Over the past three years, his nonprofit has recycled more than 1.5 million cans and bottles, diverting 100,000 pounds of trash from landfills. In 2023, Genshu awarded Hawaii high school seniors his first round of scholarships – nearly $22,000, raised five cents at a time.

Heman Bekele, age 15, of Virginia developed a bar of soap that helps treat skin cancer by delivering a cancer-fighting drug that slowly repairs damaged cells. His soap uses lipid-based nanoparticles to keep the cancer-fighting solution on skin even after the soap is washed off. A bar of his soap costs less than $9, providing an affordable and accessible alternative to traditional, expensive skin cancer treatments.

Nirbhuy Arun & Alexis Nicholson, ages 9 and 10, of Washington co-founded Kids for Urban Trees and have planted more than 300 trees at schools, parks, and low-income housing complexes in their community. The two friends started their club to address the urban heat effect and to develop young environmental stewards.

Sebastian Tan, age 16, of Pennsylvania founded OutsideConnection to help reentrants find jobs and rebuild their lives after incarceration. His online hiring platform has provided job access to more than 10,000 reentrants across the country. It uses AI-powered software to scour the Internet for job openings and then runs the data through a series of filters to match reentrants with jobs that fit their skills.

Varin Sikka, age 16, of California invented AirCat, a Direct Air Capture system that removes carbon dioxide from the air on a large scale and holds the potential to significantly mitigate climate change. Varin's system makes use of the world's 300,000 wind turbines that provide renewable energy.

William Cabaniss, age 18, of Tennessee created Vanilla Feeds Tomorrow, a nonprofit that helps feed the hungry in his community. He makes and sells homemade, pure vanilla extract and donates all profits to the regional food bank. In four years, he has donated more than $210,000 to help feed over 631,000 East Tennesseans in 18 counties.

"As we go about our lives, let's pause to reflect on the difference we can make in the world," adds Barron. "Each act of kindness, every spark of inspiration, and every gesture of love adds to the brightness of our collective experience. It is on us to live with purpose so that we can each shine our light and make a meaningful impact."

For more information about the Barron Prize visit www.barronprize.org

About the Barron Prize
Established in 2001 by author T. A. Barron, the Barron Prize is a national award that annually honors 25 outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people and the environment. These young people are as diverse as their service projects. They are female and male, urban and rural, and from a wide variety of backgrounds across the U.S. and Canada. All of them demonstrate heroic character qualities like courage and compassion. Through the years, the Barron Prize has earned the support of Girl Scouts of the USA, The Wilderness Society, Youth Service America, and Jane Goodall's Roots & Shoots, among other organizations. To learn more about the Barron Prize, visit www.barronprize.org

About T. A. Barron
T. A. Barron grew up in Colorado ranch country and traveled widely as a Rhodes Scholar. He is the winner of the de Grummond Medallion for "lifetime contribution to the field of children's and young adult literature." His highly acclaimed, internationally bestselling books include The Lost Years of Merlin (now being developed into a film), The Great Tree of Avalon (a New York Times bestseller), The Ancient One, and The Hero's Trail, which profiles heroic young people from diverse backgrounds and inspires young people to think of how they can make a positive difference in the world. He loves to write and hike in Colorado. For more information visit www.TABarron.com

SOURCE Barron Prize for Young Heroes