Community Corner

Girls Coach, Girls Run, Girls Have Fun

Girls Peer Mentoring Program Involves High School, Middle School And Elementary School Girls Living In Guilford, Branford, And Madison

By Andrew Kaplan

“If you believe in yourself, anything is possible!” extolled an excited fourth grader after she completed Tuesday's GirlsCoach*GirlsRun 5K run. The power of this popular phrase was confirmed when every girl --- despite the distance --- finished the course with huge smiles and words of encouragement from teammates and onlookers along the route.

 GirlsCoach*GirlsRun, a girls peer mentoring program involving high school, middle school and elementary school girls living in Guilford, Branford, and Madison, celebrated the completion of its second year with a 5K run at the Madison Surf Club on June 7. It was the perfect setting for a 5K run – blue skies, cool temperatures, a sparkling Long Island Sound, a pumped up crowd, and seventy-five well-trained 11th, 8th and 4th graders . Under the auspices of the Women & Family Life Center (WFLC), the girls prepared and implemented weekly lessons and activities around issues facing adolescent girls such as healthy eating, body image, self esteem, conflict and images of women in the media while, at the same time, following a rigorous training program to prepare everyone for the 5K run.

At Tuesday’s run, the energy and excitement not only from the girls, but also from family and friends was electrifying. Leslie Krumholz, WFLC Program Director, commented: “After  many months of working with this program seeing everyone together in one place – watching the girls of all ages support each other and truly enjoy their new friendships is so satisfying. I am very pleased to see the positive impact this program has had on the lives of each of these girls, and on so many different levels.” The program was made possible through a grant from the Guilford Foundation.

Community spirit abounded with Sound Runner providing GirlsCoach*GirlsRun shirts, many volunteers from the community staffing tables and cheering on the girls, and WFLC Board members serving as traffic aids. Hope Water Foundation, a Madison non-profit organization dedicated to helping solve the world's water problems, donated water for all of the girls. Ruthanna Terreri, its founder said, "I was very excited to support GirlsCoach*GirlsRun as girls are deeply affected worldwide by lack of safe and clean drinking water.”

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 The event ended with a community potluck supper and a party with Studio 99 Productions who volunteered their time for the event.

For more information about the Women & Family Life Center, visit the website at www.womenandfamilylifecenter.org.


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