Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 8, 2025 / 06:00 am

At just 19 years old, Austin Baron is taking college classes, competing on sports reality television, making handmade dog toys, and raising tens of thousands of dollars to feed the hungry. How does he do it all? According to him, it’s all thanks to “the gifts God’s given” him.

Baron is a rising sophomore at the University of Notre Dame and the founder of Knot Perfect, a nonprofit that has provided more than 100,000 meals to children and families across the globe. He is now using his participation on NBC’s reality television show “American Ninja Warrior” to help expand his outreach.

Discovering his mission

Baron was first moved to feed the hungry when he was 12 years old and volunteered at his parish, St. Theresa Catholic Church in Ashburn, Virginia, to pack meals for Cross Catholic Outreach’s food distribution ministry You(th) vs. Hunger.

“I learned that a billion people go to bed hungry each night,” Baron told CNA. “The meals I was packing with my own hands would be the only food for someone else to eat.”

“That really inspired me to want to do something to help them. Billion is a big number, and I decided that I wanted to start collecting donations because that would be a way that we could pack more meals and feed more people.”

Baron began collecting donations and gave them to a number of organizations that help provide meals but primarily to You(th) vs. Hunger. In order to “excite people and to encourage them to donate,” he said, he decided to turn it into a fun experience by giving those who donated a handmade dog toy.

“I love animals — especially dogs,” Baron said. “And around the same time that I wanted to start feeding the hungry, I started making dog toys. I watched videos to learn how to make them.” Since then, Baron has made more than 1,500 knotted dog toys.

Around the time of the pandemic, it became more challenging for Baron to collect cash donations, so at 16 years old, with the help of his parents and brothers, Baron turned his project into a nonprofit that could collect online donations. He named the organization Knot Perfect to represent both the knotted toys and the imperfect world where hunger is an issue across the globe.

Using ‘American Ninja Warrior’ to feed the hungry

After starting Knot Perfect, Baron had an inspiring rock-climbing experience that sparked his next big move.

“I went rock climbing on a cliff over the Atlantic Ocean, and I really had a wonderful experience doing that. And then … around the same time I was doing that, I started watching ‘[American] Ninja Warrior.’”

“American Ninja Warrior” is a sports-competition reality show that features athletes from around the country who compete on “the most difficult obstacle courses.” Participants compete for the fastest time and race to get a “button push” — pressing the buzzer at the end of the course indicating they completed the obstacle without falling off.

After watching the series, Baron “went to a ‘Ninja Warrior’ gym to train and to try the obstacles that were on the show, and [I] just really fell in love with the sport, and especially the ninja community.”

“Everyone was super supportive, even though we’re all competing against each other on the course. Everyone helps each other and shares their tips and encourages them on all the obstacles … then a friend suggested that I apply for the show.”

“I didn’t know if I was going to get in,” Baron said. “[But] I feel like God really blessed me with the opportunity to be on the show and to use it to advocate for an end to world hunger and to encourage other people to do good in the world.”

Baron heard back that he was accepted for Season 15 of the show. In 2023, he participated and made it to the semifinal round. (Approximately 40,000 of the meals provided by Knot Perfect were a direct result of Baron’s appearance on “American Ninja Warrior.”)

Baron was invited to rejoin the show for Season 17, which is taking place in Las Vegas this summer. So far he has been a fierce competitor, hitting his first buzzer on the June 2 episode, which advanced him to the upcoming July 14 semifinals.

Wearing a shirt that says “Ninja Fighting Hunger” on the episode, Baron said he is “dedicating [his] summer to being the hands and feet of Christ for the 1 billion people around the world who go to bed hungry each night.”

Knot Perfect’s next steps

As much as Baron enjoys the course and community of “American Ninja Warrior,” he said, “The whole reason I go on the show is to advocate for world hunger … As a result of being on the season this year, we’re trying to pack our 1-millionth meal as a community in northern Virginia. It’s our 10-year anniversary of packing meals, and we have a big goal of hitting that million-meal mark.”

The anniversary marks a milestone for You(th) vs. Hunger, and Baron said he hopes “American Ninja Warrior” can help the Catholic community reach its goal, as a donation of just $10 allows the organization to feed 30 people.

“My mission of feeding the hungry, starting a nonprofit, and then going to the University of Notre Dame and competing on [‘American Ninja Warrior’], I just felt that God has really blessed me with this opportunity,” Baron said. “I felt his hands, him walking me, and helping me throughout it.”

As he heads into his sophomore year, Baron will continue to study business analytics to continue his nonprofit and its mission after he graduates. He recently received two grants totaling $1,650 to help him reach his donation goals.

He was also selected as the Virginia Young Man of the Year by the Knights of Columbus in 2024 for his work. But he gives all the credit to God.

“I’m so grateful to God for the gifts he’s given me and to use it to do something good for other people. I couldn’t have done any of this without him,” Baron said. “It’s him, not me. I’m so grateful to him for that.”