Local Teen Named 2023 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes Honoree

WEST FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) — Another big honor for a West Fargo teen that we have featured before on KVRR Local News.

13-year-old Sawyer Anderson has been named an honoree of the 2023 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes.

The prize celebrates 25 young leaders who have made a significant positive impact on people, their communities, and the environment.

Sawyer is a 9th grader at Oak Grove Lutheran School.

She founded the nonprofit Water Works to bring clean water to people in poverty-stricken Zambia.

She also wrote and illustrated a children’s book with the same title to fund clean water initiatives.

According to a press release: “Sawyer has inspired hundreds of kids and volunteers to help sew more than 1,400 chitenge Bags of Hope, which she sells for $50 each – the cost to provide clean water to one person for a lifetime. Thanks to partnerships with international nonprofits Wellspring for the World and World Vision, Sawyer has raised $1.2 million and built 85 clean water wells. “I will not stop until I can help bring clean water to every person that is without it,” says Sawyer. “We all matter and a kid really CAN make a difference.”

The Barron Prize was founded in 2001 by author T. A. Barron.

It is named for his mother, Gloria Barron.

The Prize has honored more than 500 young people who demonstrate heroic qualities like courage, compassion, and perseverance as they work to help their communities or protect the planet.