The Big Payback is a day of giving online to support non-profits in Middle Tennessee! Starting at midnight on Wednesday, May 3rd, donors have 24 hours to make gifts to 775 participating nonprofits, including schools and religious institutions, which are located in or provide services in the 40 counties of Middle Tennessee. Find out how you can get involved and support your favorite non-profits that make our communities sparkle! I included a list of my favorites and why I love their missions!!
What gives me hope for our future? Easy. A couple of 3rd and 4th graders.
Today at Whole Foods, my favorite employee, the guy who's line I always try to squeeze into, asked me a very interesting question. He asked me if I had one question for someone to ask me, what would it be? He said that he realized everyone has their thing they want to tell people, so he wondered, what would my soapbox be?
Girls on the Run - Spring 2016 5K
Today we completed our season ending accomplishment of running the Girls on the Run 5K! But there is more magical goodness happening at Girls on the Run than just running! There is Girls on the Run spirit lining each and everyone of my favorite moments from today including, reaching new goals, doing the right thing, supporting our teammates, taking risks, going the extra mile (kind of literally).
GOTR Community Impact Project & #GIVINGTUESDAY
Anyone who spends at least a little bit of time with me, knows how much I love Girls on the Run. There are SO MANY things I love about GOTR (you can read them here, here, and here), but there is one part of the curriculum that is particularly perfect for #GivingTuesday. Part of the Girls on the Run curriculum focuses on empowering girls to share their strengths and use their unique gifts to positively impact those around them. At the end of the season, every Girls on the Run team creates their own Community Impact Project. The projects are driven by the girls, they are responsible for planning, collecting materials, etc, which gives them a strong sense of ownership and accomplishment. They walk away feeling empowered and realize that together they can have an impact on their communities or towards a cause they are passionate about.
Girls on the Run - Beauty and Breakthroughs
On Monday we talked about beauty. Not beauty in the way your brain will automatically define it. We're talking real beauty. Inner beauty. Things like positive attitude, funny, self-disciplined, honest, creative, helpful. I asked the girls a bonus question. How does inner beauty relate to friends and friendship? Read on for my favorite answers....
Plus - we were shorthanded today. I have two girls on my team who seem to require the direct supervision of at least one person at all times. I pulled the two girls aside while we walked down to our meeting place. I told them I was going to need their full attention and cooperation today. I also told them that it was my job as a Coach to make sure they had the best 5K experience ever, so I needed them to really focus during our run so they could be well prepared (aka: no climbing the fence, no finding giant branches to 'herd' people with, no 30 minute bathroom breaks, etc.). Find out how that went....
Girls on the Run Nashville - Week #1
The first week of Girls on the Run Nashville was a major success! I have 15 lovely third and fourth graders on my team this season! I always forget how young the girls are in the Fall! I have two girls from past seasons, and a younger sister from a past GOTR!
Every single GOTR ran at least a mile on our first day! One of the girls ran 2.25 miles! In my experience, one of the most valuable things the girls learn during Girls on the Run is about running. This is where many of them start to build a positive foundation for lifelong activity and develop an appreciation for running!
The #bigpayback and Girls on the Run Nashville UPDATE!
$14,285 = 60 full scholarships, 60 pairs of new running shoes, and new curricula and activity sheets for 30 program sites (which is equal to about 450 girls). Obviously the scholarships and running shoes is SUPER EXCITING. Selfishly, I am pretty excited about the new curricula which is something we don't really talk about that often. In particular, the new curricula for Girls on Track (serving girls in 6th - 8th grade) focuses on the whole girl - body, brain, spirit, and social connection. It also addresses life skills such as team building, developing a support system, boundary setting, decision making, and asking for and providing help.
Developing a support system? BOUNDARY SETTING???? Boundary setting? Can I just tell you that it was only a few years ago, maybe three to be exact, that I even learned what boundary setting was and why it was helpful? Learning about boundaries CHANGED MY LIFE. (thats a whole different post in itself) Asking for help??? CRIPES. That is good stuff. And you know what? Middle School is where we need to be learning this kind of life-giving stuff, especially if we have parents who never had the opportunity to learn it, or aren't capable of teaching it to their kids.
20 REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD donate to Girls on the Run Nashville!!! #BIGPAYBACK
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!
Girls on the Run and The Dailey Method - Special Donation Match Classes
Here is a super easy way to support GOTR Nashville or the Girls on the Run chapter in your area!
If you are in Nashville, mark your calendar for Sunday, March 1st, at 3 pm! In support of the Girls on the Run "One in a Million" campaign celebrating the milestone of serving our one millionth girl, The Dailey Method Nashville will be holding a special donation match class! Minimum $10 donation to attend class. All donations will be matched by TDM Nashville with all proceeds going directly to Girls On The Run Nashville! Hope to see you there!!
To learn more and to sign up, click here!!
S'mores Rice Krispie Bars & Precious Moments from the first week of GOTR!
To celebrate the start of the Spring season of Girls on the Run, I made S'mores Rice Krispie treats. What brings you back to childhood more than a good ol' rice krispie treat? The recipe is at the bottom of this post, but first I wanted to share some precious moments from the first week of Girls on the Run! Here's a teaser: "Is there anything you are hoping to learn from Girls on the Run? Anything you are excited or nervous about?" "I am really nervous about getting Ebola."