‘Pivotal moment’: Herzog Foundation wins America’s 250th Innovation Prize for patriotic ‘Freedom Tour’ 

The Herzog Foundation received an Innovation Prize on Tuesday for an ambitious project to celebrate the 250th anniversary of America’s founding next year.

The Washington, D.C.-based Heritage Foundation awarded Herzog, which publishes The Lion, one of five Innovation Prizes for its Freedom Tour, “a 3-week celebration that will last from mid-June to July 3, 2026, visiting all 13 original colonies and featuring rally-style battlefield birthday parties, music, and family entertainment designed to educate citizens on America’s founding values and inspire renewed patriotism.”

The $50,000 prizes were also presented to Cana Academy, Emergent Order Foundation, the Sophia Institute, and Hillsdale College professor Matthew Mehan. 

“We’re honored to be a recipient of America’s 250th Innovation Prize from the Heritage Foundation,” Herzog Foundation President Darrell Jones said. “We believe there’s no better way to celebrate our nation’s birthday than by taking the values that built America – faith, freedom, and family – on the road. The Freedom Tour is all about bringing communities together, reminding us of what we share, and inspiring the next generation to carry the torch. We’re grateful for this recognition and can’t wait to get started.”  

Herzog Foundation Institute Director Sadie Elliott accepted the award in Washington, D.C. 

“What an incredible milestone for this great American experience of ours and what a great time to be alive,” Elliott said. The Herzog Foundation seeks to “honor the life and legacy” of its founder, Stan Herzog, in everything it does. “Stan was a successful businessman and entrepreneur only because of the opportunity afforded to him in this nation. He was also a father, a grandfather, a philanthropist, a Christian, and an American patriot who believed that a return to the American founding ideals is what would drive this nation forward.” 

Elliott said the Freedom Tour 2026 will welcome Americans from across the country to “join us in one of the original 13 colonies to celebrate America at our America’s birthday parties, where we will tell the story of American history, and how faith informed the founding, so that we might have a renewed hope for how faith will inform the future of America.” 

The Freedom Tour will feature “rally style battlefield birthday parties, music, and family entertainment” to inspire patriotism and family values, the Heritage Foundation’s Bridgett Wagner, who presented the awards, said, noting that the Freedom Tour will be streamed on social media and will include teacher trainings. 

The awards come at a “pivotal moment in American history,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts said. “On the cusp of our 250th anniversary, the conservative movement is not just celebrating our founding – we’re reclaiming our future.” 

 “The winners of this special round of Innovation Prizes are builders of that future,” he said. “Together, we can reignite the flame of patriotism that gave life to our great country – and remind Americans that we are standing at the sunrise of a new Golden Age, rooted once more in the permanent things: faith, family, work, sovereignty, and sacrifice.”