About the Prize

The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes celebrates inspiring, public-spirited, highly diverse young people from all across America. Each year, the Barron Prize honors twenty-five outstanding young leaders ages 8 to 18 who have made a significant positive difference to people and our planet. The top ten winners each receive a $5,000 cash award to support their service work or higher education. The primary goal of the Prize is to shine the spotlight on these amazing young people so that their stories will inspire others.

These young people are as diverse as their service projects. They are female and male, urban and rural, and from many races and backgrounds. Examples include Jaclyn, who survived brain cancer and then worked to help other terminally ill children; Ryan, who helped provide clean drinking water to more than 70 African villages; Michaella, who organized a rodeo for disabled kids; Joying, who cleaned up South Carolina's beaches; Shawn, who organized his neighborhood to build a community garden in the inner city; and Barbara, who created a successful motor oil recycling project in rural Texas.

I founded the Prize in 2000 to share the stories of such inspiring young people. And I named it after my mother, who was a quiet hero in my own life.

T.A. Barron
Prize Founder