On June 21st, I will be running in my first marathon (26.2 miles). Will you join me in donating $26.20 to Girls on the Run of Snohomish County in celebration of this milestone?
Girls on the Run (GOTR) is a program for 3rd-5th grade girls and gender-expansive youth which focuses on physical and mental health. The program meets twice a week for 8 to 10 weeks each spring. The season ends with a celebration 5k. During the season, kids learn how to identify their emotions, build resilience and perseverance, change negative self talk into positive self talk, identify qualities of a good friend and how to be a good friend, effective communication skills, use breath to self-sooth, and advocate for self and others. Every year, each team identifies a target population to serve and plans a community action project that benefits that population.
This is my 5th year volunteering as a coach. It's such a joy to witness kids build confidence, friendships with teammates, running/ walking strength and stamina. As a former mental health counselor, it's wonderful to see so many of these healthy life skills that I used to work on with therapy clients being taught preventatively to 3rd-5th graders in a fun and engaging way.
