Vanessa Schultze Trending
FAIRMONT -- Three years ago, reading Anne Frank's story inspired Fairmont girl Natalie Flaherty's hope to end hatred, and thus begin the "I Stand with Anne, Put a Stop To Hate" campaign. Through it, she distributed more than 100,000 bracelets in more than 50 countries across the globe, making waves in the mission to end hate once and for all, which earned her the Young Heroes Project-2026 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.
"I'm very proud of myself," said Flaherty. "It makes me feel so accomplished and people are actually seeing my message."
The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes is a program within the Young Heroes Project non-profit organization. Author T.A. Barron created both the program, named after his mother Gloria Barron, and organization in 2001. For the 25 years, the program has annually recognized 25 children ages 8 to 18-years-old from the United States and Canada who possess leadership qualities and are individually instrumental in bringing a positive impact on fellow people, communities and environments.
"To get my message out there," said Flaherty, when asked why she wanted to apply for the prize. "It wasn't so much as for the award as to just get my message out there."
"I think the award says that she has creative, effective change. She's made a substantial impact on people in society, which is a big deal. People need it right now," said Flaherty's mother, Becky Flohrs.
Flaherty was among the entrants last year. The program was per recommendation of another organization Flaherty had worked with previously, which had brought it to her attention. She decided to apply again this year.
"When we researched the program, it made a lot of sense that she would apply for it," Flohrs said.
Application submissions open in January, and winners are revealed in September. To apply, Flaherty wrote essays describing her work, what she had learned, what it impacted, what she will do in the future and submit three letters of recommendation.
"I was happy when I completed it," Flaherty recalled.
According to barronprize.org, a panel of 10 selected independent contest judges determine 25 potential finalists, 10 potential runner-up prize winners and 15 potential grand prize winners based on their criteria, including entrants leading, organizing or initiating a beneficial non-school, non-work project and demonstrating positive qualities.
Flaherty and Flohrs were contacted by the organization and discovered Flaherty won the prize, among 2,000 applicants, recognizing her for distributing more than 100,000 "I Stand with Anne, Put a Stop to Hate" bracelets worldwide. They shared the news on Tuesday, Sept. 15. They recounted that the discovery was an emotional one.
"Me and my mom were crying when we found out because it was just so exciting," said Flaherty.
"They emailed us and said, 'Hey, we want to talk, nothing bad, you don't need to prepare anything', which means we prepared everything," Flohrs added with a laugh. "We thought they needed more information on her application and they said, 'I'm sure you know why I'm calling', and we were like, 'We have no idea why you're calling', and they let us know that she had won, and she was going to send the winners’ information over."
All 25 winners receive a custom plaque and certificate. The top 15 winners are awarded $10,000, which may be used for public service efforts or further education. Flaherty received the plaque, certificate, prize money, and one of T.A. Barron's books, "The Hero's Trail," on Thursday, Sept. 17.
"I feel very accomplished and very grateful for everyone who has helped me along with this mission," Flaherty said.
She plans to invest, set her bracelet distribution back in motion, save for post-secondary school and make donations. In further endeavors, Flaherty plans to continue working with educators and politicians on educational reform addressing hate and how to challenge it. With the Kindness Club, she plans to distribute bracelets on Halloween once more with the "Wicked" theme.
She said people can rally behind and support "I Stand with Anne, Put a Stop to Hate" by choosing kindness and knowledge.
"It says that they also have the same idea as me, and they also don't want hate to have a ripple effect and break our world," Flaherty said. "Wear the bracelet, t-shirt and say kind and good words. Embody it."
The "I Stand with Anne, Put a Stop to Hate" bracelets have been distributed for free and are at the Anne Frank Center USA, the Holocaust Museum and select businesses in the Fairmont area. Shirts are available at annefrank.com.
To view additional information about Flaherty as the selection for the Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes, visit barronprize.org/meet-the-winners/2026-winners.