Naperville 'Shark Tank' Teen Makes $7.5K Donation to Library

NAPERVILLE, IL — The Naperville teen who made a double deal on ABC’s “Shark Tank” has made a charitable donation to the Naperville Public Library.

Trisha Prabhu, a junior at Neuqua Valley High School and loyal library customer, recently received the 2016 WebMD Health Hero Prodigy Award for her anti-bullying software called ReThink, which aims to stop cyberbullying at the source by forcing adolescents to rethink their comments before they post them online, according to a news release from the library.

Part of the WebMD Prodigy Award includes a cash donation to a charitable cause of Prabhu’s choice, and the library was her top choice, with the library receiving $7,500. Prabhu said she hopes the donation will help the library further advance its forward-thinking initiatives throughout the community.

“Naperville Public Library on 95th Street has been a great resource for me as I worked on my research and innovation for ReThink,” Prabhu said in the news release. “By donating to Naperville Public Library and channeling the funds to benefit innovation resources at the library, I hope to inspire students in the community, from elementary school to high school, to find a problem that they are passionate to solve and work on it.”

The library most likely will use the donation to fund a green screen room at 95th Street Library.

“We are so proud of Trisha and so pleased that the library has contributed in any way to her success,” Executive Director Julie Rothenfluh said. “We are extremely grateful that she had made this generous donation to Naperville Public Library. Through her generosity, we hope to help other young people achieve their dreams.”

Prabhu’s ReThink app has gained national attention as she has presented TEDx Talks and also pitched her anti-cyber-bullying software to the judges on "Shark Tank" in September.

“The response to ‘Shark Tank’s’ appearance has been overwhelmingly positive,” Prabhu said, adding that more than 1,000 schools have shown interest to adopt ReThink. “Our goal is to get ReThink in the hands of every adolescent at no cost to them. Many thanks to the entire community for the support and love throughout this journey. I do get recognized more when I am out and about in the community, and many community members and leaders have approached me to offer me their help and support as I take ReThink forward. I am glad that we are raising awareness about the silent pandemic of cyberbullying and ReThink’s goal to stop cyberbullying before it begins.”

photo via "Shark Tank"