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The Evening Sun | Perry Browne Girls On The Run Collects Food For Those In Need
NORWICH
—
The
Perry
Browne
Elementary
School
Girls
on
the
Run
team
spent
their
season
preparing
for
a
5K,
learning
life
skills,
and
gathering
food
to
donate
to
the
United
Way
food
cupboard.
Girls
on
the
Run
is
a
“physical,
activity-based,
positive
youth
development
program
that
inspires
third
through
eighth
grade
girls
to
be
joyful,
healthy,
and
confident
using
a
fun
experience-based
curriculum
which
creatively
integrates
running.”
Coaches
and
facilitators
spent
the
season
meeting
with
a
group
of
19
third,
fourth,
and
fifth
graders
at
Perry
Browne
preparing
for
a
5K
run
on
Sunday,
June
4
in
Oneonta.
“We
don’t
care
if
they
run.
They
move
forward.
They
hop,
they
skip,
they
jump.
Whatever
it
is
as
long
as
they’re
going
forward.
They
walk.
It
doesn’t
matter,”
said
Perry
Browne
Music
Teacher
and
Girls
on
the
Run
Facilitator
Karen
Clark.
“Every
single
time
they
come
they
were
making
a
goal
and
then
they’re
doing
their
laps.
‘Did
I
make
my
goal?'”
They
also
learned
various
lessons
relating
to
empowerment,
empathy,
and
advocating
for
themselves
in
a
positive
way.
“It’s
a
program
for
young
women
to
come
together
and
empower
each
other.
So
the
running
part
and
the
5K
part
is
a
goal
for
them,
but
ultimately
every
single
time
we
meet,
there’s
lessons
on
different
life
skills
for
the
girls.
Specifically
on
how
to
empower
yourself
and
empower
others,”
said
The
Place
Teen
Program
Coordinator
and
Girls
on
the
Run
Coach
Julie
Dealing.
She
said
the
girls
also
learned
about
the
concept
of
“Star
Power,”
or
personal
positive
energy.
“One
of
the
things
we
talked
about
was
activating
our
‘Star
Power.’
So
in
this
sense
it’s
kind
of
like
your
positive
energy,
and
then
we
also
talked
about
how
clouds
can
cover
that.
Like
how
negative
things
can
affect
our
positivity,”
Dealing
explained.
“The
girls
come
in
every
day
and
they’ll
ask
us
coaches,
‘how’s
your
Star
Power
today?’
Like,
how
are
you
feeling
today?”
“They’ve
really
grown
in
the
short
period
of
time
we’ve
been
together,
and
I
think
it’s
just
amazing,”
she
continued.
“It’s
really
amazing
watching
these
girls
from
the
beginning
to
now.
We
ere
unsure
with
like
integrating
the
different
grades
tog
how
well
they
were
going
to
mesh,
and
by
the
end
now
they’re
all
one
big
team.
They
all
support
each
other.”
In
addition
to
learning
life
skills
and
gearing
up
for
the
5K,
the
Girls
on
the
Run
team
also
completed
a
Community
Impact
Project,
which
aims
to
find
a
local
cause
to
support
while
also
teaching
the
girls
about
compromise.
“A
few
weeks
ago
our
lesson
was
on
compromise,
and
so
we
did
exercises
on
that,
and
that
all
led
to
them
coming
to
an
agreement
for
the
population
of
which
they
wanted
to
serve,”
said
Dealing.
“They
decided
they
wanted
to
bring
in
food.”
“The
past
like
two
weeks
or
so
[they]
have
just
been
bringing
in
what
they’re
able
to,”
she
continued.
“It’s
really
about
using
what
we
already
have,
so
ultimately
these
girls
came
together
and
donated
their
own
food.”
The
team
was
able
to
fill
a
box
and
large
grocery
bag
with
food,
which
was
then
donated
on
Thursday
to
the
Chenango
United
Way
to
be
put
in
their
food
cupboard
at
83
North
Broad
Street
in
Norwich.
“On
the
front
porch
there’s
a
blue
cabinet,
and
in
that
blue
cabinet
we
are
going
to
put
this
food,
and
pretty
much
every
day
we
have
people
that
come
to
that
cupboard
and
they
need
food,”
said
United
Way
Executive
Director
Elizabeth
Monaco.
“Sometimes
we
have
boxes
of
clothing
too,
or
shoes,
or
blankets,
or
pillows.
So
we
take
donations
of
those
things.”
“We
put
those
things
out
because
we
have
a
lot
of
people
in
need
in
our
community.
Some
people
are
homeless,
some
people
have
lost
their
jobs.
Some
people
have
little
kids
or
babies
that
they
need
help
taking
care
of,
and
so
that
cupboard
and
those
boxes
on
the
porch
are
for
people
who
need
help,”
she
added.
“So
this
food
is
going
to
be
really
really
helpful
for
those
people.”
