Yes, it’s only May, and yes, you have the entire summer ahead of you. September seems like forever away—three carefree months of swimming pool trips and Yellowstone vacations and 4^th of July picnics—but it’s going to sneak up on you if you’re not careful. Before you know it, you’ll be shopping for school supplies and backpacks and you’ll have missed the opportunity to educate and prepare your daughter for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living.

        Whoa. That’s probably a deadline you’ll want to pay attention to.

        Girls on the Run of the Treasure Valley is a non-competitive, nonprofit program for girls grades three through five whose mission is the aforementioned education and preparation for a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living. This after-school program combines training for a community 5K event with health education, life skills development, and mentoring relationships. Through interactive activities including walking and running, playing games, and discussing important issues, girls learn how to celebrate being themselves and develop a healthy self-image. One of the program’s primary goals is to counter society’s message that a girl’s outward appearance is more valuable than her character, a message that often results in low self-esteem and distorted body image.

        Girls on the Run offers two sessions a year: a spring session, which is winding down right now, and a fall session, which runs September through November. The girls meet for an hour and fifteen minutes twice a week for ten weeks after school at participating area schools. At the end of the season, the girls complete a community 5K event. More important than that accomplishment, though, are the tools they develop throughout the season to deal with peer pressure and other uncomfortable situations so they can live their lives according to their own values.

        So, here’s why you need to pay attention to this now. Registration for the fall Girls on the Run session is in mid-August. Set a bookmark on gotr.org and mark your calendar to check it for the exact date, before summer amnesia sets in. Space is limited, so if you snooze, you lose.

        Here’s another reason. Even if you don’t have daughters who can participate in Girls on the Run, you can play a vital part in teaching and empowering girls in our community by donating items needed to operate the program.

Here’s their wishlist:

Healthy snacks – individually packaged
Gatorade (or similar) for the practice 5K day
Bottled water
Markers/pens
Band-Aids
Jump ropes
Jelly bracelets
Old teen magazines (Seventeen, Teen Vogue, etc.)
Colored paper reams – cardstock and regular
White copy paper
Small paper lunch bags
Index cards
Mailing labels
Shipping labels
Coaches’ gifts (Approx. 50 coaches per season)

In-kind services or donations for copying curriculum game pieces, program brochures, and registration forms  
Volunteers to be coaches and assistant coaches

For more information, visit gotr.org or contact Melissa Bixby at 388-4687 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text23191 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //--> This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it