Organization: GIRLS ON THE RUN SERVING GREATER KANSAS CITY MISSOURI
Mission: We inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum which creatively integrates running.
Activities: Girls on the Run is a physical activity-based positive youth development program designed to develop and enhance girls' social, psychological, and physical competencies to successfully navigate life experiences. Girls in the 3rd through 8th grades combine training for a 5K (3.1 miles) running event with healthy living education. Our character-building program instills self-esteem through health education, life skills development, mentoring relationships, and physical training - all of which are accomplished through an active collaboration with girls and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff, and the community. Our program is held twice a year in the fall and spring, and each season is 10 weeks in duration. The program is currently taught in elementary schools, middle schools, and community centers around the Kansas City area. Teams meet for an hour and a half twice a week and each session is led by specially trained volunteer coaches and includes lessons dealing with issues such as body image, negative self-talk, resisting peer pressure, gratitude, gossip, nutrition, substance abuse, making healthy decisions, and contributing to the community. In 2019, Girls on the Run of Greater Kansas City served more than 4,800 girls and engaged more than 2,200 volunteer coaches. In addition, 50 percent of our program participants were awarded full or partial scholarships to participate. Girls On The Run had to cancel our spring 2020 season due to COVID-19 impacting school closures. We refunded over $250,000 in program registrations and stopped programming for over 3,000 girls.
Twice each year, Girls on the Run of Greater Kansas City hosts a 5k event that is open to the public. Our 5k is unlike any other running event as it focuses on the girls and their accomplishment over the ten week program. The races are open to the public and serve to engage the community in our mission and raise funds for our scholarship program. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, the Spring 2020 5k was cancelled.
NTEE category: Youth Development
Secondary category: Recreation & Sports