Barron Prize Announces 2005 National Winners

NYLC congratulates the winners of The 2005 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, an annual award honoring outstanding young leaders who make a significant, positive difference to people and the planet. Each year, The Barron Prize selects 10 winners nationwide, five who have helped their communities and fellow human beings and five who have protected the health and sustainability of the environment. Each winner will receive a $2,000 prize to be applied to higher education or to a service project.

The 2005 winners …

• Lindsey Williams (18, Missouri) invented a water-saving irrigation device that doubles crop growth and has enabled her to donate nearly 30,000 pounds of produce to families in need.
• Geneva Johnson (16, New York) created the nonprofit youth-service group Bring it On!, which promotes community involvement and leadership development in the northeast Bronx, and has connected 250 teenage girls with positive female role models.
• Beth Rickard (18, California) founded the Arcata High School Conservation and Renewable Energy Project (C.A.R.E.), which has received over $30,000 in grants to install solar panels at the school for use in conducting renewable-energy research.
• Ana Dodson (13, Colorado) created the nonprofit Peruvian Hearts, which has raised $15,000 to provide education, food, and clothing to girls in a Peruvian orphanage.
• Clayton Lillard (16, Texas) founded Clayton's Backyard Crew, a group that has refurbished 700 bicycles to give as Christmas gifts to children whose parents are in prison.
• Ebbie Akinwande (13, Pennsylvania) led students in conducting water quality tests along the Delaware Canal. The research convinced state lawmakers to improve the canal's environmental health and recreational potential.
• Claire Richard (18, Oklahoma) created a domestic-violence prevention program in public schools within the Choctaw Nation. The program's high school mentors teach elementary students about non-violent ways to handle their emotions.
• Washo Shadowhawk(14, Oregon) has led a group of students in greatly improving the quality of life for primates at the Oregon Regional Primate Research Center.
• Leah Bueso (18, Florida) founded smARTies, a nonprofit that uses weekly art classes to teach tolerance to elementary students in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood.
• Shannon Babb (17, Utah) tackled the problems of invasive, non-native species and poor water quality in the desert and rivers near her hometown.

The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T.A. Barron and named for his mother, Gloria Barron.