The Big Payback is a 24 hour day of online giving here in Nashville. It is a day to celebrate 755 participating non-profits from Middle Tennessee. Girls on the Run Nashville is participating and I would love to have your support in reaching our goal to raise $8,000 to provide 30 full scholarships to GOTR participants, 30 pairs of new running shoes for GOTR scholarship participants, and new curricula and activity sheets for 30 program sites in the Fall! If you feel moved to donate, click here!
Here is a list of 20 reasons why you should donate to Girls on the Run Nashville! It was quite difficult to narrow it down to 20!
1. I wish I had the opportunity to participate in GOTR when I was younger. There are so many strategies and skills that I could have used to help me navigate through adolescence and my teenage years!
2. BIG changes happen within small groups that offer love and a sense safety!!!
4. No matter what race, religion, or socioeconomic group a girl is included in, their self esteem is so fragile when they are young. I know at my house, things may have looked great on the outside, but were not so great on the inside. Every girl can benefit from GOTR.
5. Parents’ benefit by learning what’s happening at GOTR and discussing Car Talk questions that I send out before practice! Many of our lessons are applicable in adult life too!
6. When your self-esteem increases, there is an increase in the number of healthy relationships in your life.
7. Girls have the opportunity to design their own Community Impact Project at the end of every season. They learn the importance of using their unique gifts and talents to improve their surroundings. (THIS IS SO MUCH FUN TO WATCH!) They realize that they have the ability to make a change.
8. The Girls on the Run curriculum works on developing mental, emotional, and physical health. For example, we discuss emotions in terms of ‘comfortable’ and ‘uncomfortable’ instead of ‘good’ and ‘bad’.
9. Girl to girl bullying is different than bullying between boys. Girls tend to use relational aggression, involving rejection by friends, exclusion from the group, and verbal attacks. We teach the girls how to recognize this type of bullying and strategies to stop it when it happens to themselves or others.
10. At Girls on the Run, we celebrate what makes each girl unique!! Differences are AWESOME! Having a different opinion is OK!
11. Team sports are great. But at Girls on the Run, you don’t have to be the best one and there is no sitting on the bench. I have some good memories with teammates, but my ultimate take away was ‘if you aren’t the best, you should quit. There is no other option’.
12. Girls learn SBLR – STOP BREATHE LISTEN RESPOND. When you are in a tough situation, or you feel that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach (that’s where it is for me), you should SBLR. A little bit of time to build up courage or to calm down before responding harshly!
13. Sometimes girls have difficulty distinguishing between a good role model and a not so good role model. Our GOTRs have some wonderful mentors they can look up to!
14. How old were you when you realized magazine ads were fake? When did you learn about photoshop? Did you ever stop to think that there is a team behind every part of an ad? Make up, hair, stylist, lighting, sound, camera, editing. In our lesson about body image, we analyze magazine ads and learn about what goes in to making an ad.
15. One day one of my girls who hadn't been running that much during practice ran a 5K! I knew she had it in her, all it took was the promise of a 'surprise' at the end of practice if they ran at least 2.5 miles. As we were walking in, she said, "Coach Corrie can you believe I ran a 5K? I can't believe it! I didn't even think my legs could carry me that far! Its just so cool to do something you never thought you'd be able to do before!!"
16. Did you know that some of our girls don't have proper running shoes? GOTR Nashville will provide a new pair of running shoes if a GOTR does not have the means to purchase their own.
17. Girls learn that THEY have the ability to be a leader. To stop rumors and gossip. I asked my team whether they thought, individually, that they could stop rumors or gossiping. Two of my girls were so brave and honest and said they didn't. Our conclusion was that they could indeed! They can change the subject when someone tries to gossip, they can walk away, or they can say they don't like gossip because it hurts everyone involved. Who knows, maybe they will even impact the gossiper and inspire them to stop as well!
18. Their faces are beaming with a sense of accomplishment when they cross the finish line at our end of the season 5K. It is unforgettable and even after my 7/8th season of coaching, it STILL makes me choke up every time!! Proud Coach!
19. As a Coach, I witness the transformation of each girl. No matter how they start the season, they all grow in some way. Whether its realizing they can run more than they ever thought, accomplishing a goal, realizing that what makes them different is AWESOME, or realizing their self-worth !
20. They do things they never thought they would do. Like run in the pouring rain and realizing they LOVE running in the rain. Or running four miles at practice. The photo below is from my favorite day of practice this year! The girls assumed we'd be inside. NO WAY! They were so POSITIVE and MOTIVATED and ENCOURAGING to each other! I love this photo! Look how joyful they are!!
Learn more about Girls on the Run Nashville at www.gotrnashville.org!