Natalie Flaherty, a Minnesota teen is one of the recipients of the 2026 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes. At just 12, the girl has been able to work towards and achieve something that generations before her struggled to. The Fairmont native founded ‘I Stand With Anne’, a campaign that aims to turn Holocaust remembrance into everyday action.Starting at the age of 10, Flaherty has been making bracelets that read “I Stand With Anne, Put a Stop to Hate,” after reading Anne Frank’s diary. She handed out her first bracelets that Halloween dressed as Anne Frank and going door to door, CBS affiliate KEYC reported. Since then, she has made 100,000 bracelets that have reached all 50 states and more than 50 countries.By 12, Flaherty has been able to work with museums, nonprofits and politicians to spread her message. She even pushed to bring a sapling of the Anne Frank chestnut tree to her hometown, which led to one being planted near Fairmont’s high school. Natalie’s tree is one of only twenty Anne Frank trees planted across the country, including at the U.S. Capitol and 9/11 Memorial. In conjunction with the tree planting, she worked with local and state leaders to have May 29 declared as “Stand with Anne Day.”“It makes me feel really proud of myself,” Flaherty told KEYC. She said the campaign started small and grew into something much bigger than she expected.When asked about why she wanted to apply for the prize, Flaherty said, “To get my message out there. It wasn’t so much 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.The Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes is a program within the Young Heroes Project non-profit organisation. Author T.A. Barron created both the program, named after his mother Gloria Barron, and the organisation in 2001. For 25 years, the program has annually recognised 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.Flaherty was among the entrants last year as well. It was recommended by an organisation she worked with previously, which 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 submitted 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, organising, or initiating a beneficial non-school, non-work project and demonstrating positive qualities.Flaherty and Flohrs were contacted by the organisation and discovered that Flaherty won the prize, among 2,000 applicants, recognising her for distributing more than 100,000 “I Stand with Anne, Put a Stop to Hate” bracelets worldwide. They shared the news on Tuesday, September 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, September 17. “I feel very accomplished and very grateful for everyone who has helped me along with this mission,” Flaherty said.Now, Flaherty plans to invest, set her bracelet distribution back in motion, save for post-secondary school and make donations. In the future, she 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 available at the Anne Frank Centre USA, the Holocaust Museum and select businesses in the Fairmont area. Shirts are available at annefrank.com.
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