Girls on the Run Northwest Indiana has received a 3- year grant of $300,000 from Lilly Endowment Inc. to help serve more girls within their current service area of ten counties in Northwest Indiana, as well as expanding their transformational program to eleven additional counties in the Wabash Valley area of Indiana.
The program is being funded through Lilly Endowment’s initiative, Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana. The aim of the competitive initiative is to help youth-serving organizations working throughout Indiana improve their abilities to promote the academic, physical and social well-being of young people, ages five through 18.
For 16 years, Girls on the Run Northwest Indiana has inspired adolescent girls to be joyful, healthy, and confident through an intentional curriculum that creatively integrates running. Through the out-of-school time program, girls learn critical life skills and healthy living behaviors that they can use at home, at school, and with friends after the program's conclusion.
“Expanding our service area has been a dream of our staff for a few years, but we did not have the capacity to make it happen. The Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana grant allows us to provide impactful, quality programming in areas that did not have access before,” says Jill Schlueter-Kim, Executive Director. “We are grateful for the vision of the Lilly Endowment to invest in Indiana's youth with these grants!”
Girls on the Run Northwest Indiana is one of 187 organizations receiving grants through Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana.
“Indiana’s youth-serving organizations are crucial to the healthy development of children and youth across the state,’ said Ted Maple, Lilly Endowment’s vice president for education. “The challenges these organizations have faced in meeting the needs of young people in recent years have made their work increasingly difficult. Lilly Endowment is pleased to support their efforts to strengthen programs and serve more youth more effectively.”
Lilly Endowment launched Strengthening Youth Programs in Indiana Initiative in 2022 with an invitational round of grants to nine national youth-serving organizations to help them expand and enhance the work of their Indiana affiliates or chapters.
About Lilly Endowment Inc.
Lilly Endowment Inc. is a private foundation created in 1937 by J.K. Lilly Sr. and his sons Eli and J.K. Jr. through gifts of stock in their pharmaceutical business, Eli Lilly and Company. While those gifts remain the financial bedrock of the Endowment, it is a separate entity from the company, with a distinct governing board, staff and location. Although the Endowment funds programs throughout the United States, especially in the field of religion, it maintains a special commitment to its hometown, Indianapolis, and home state, Indiana.
About Girls on the Run Northwest Indiana
Girls on the Run inspires girls in 3rd – 8th grades to recognize their inner strength and celebrate what makes them one of a kind. Trained coaches lead small teams through a curriculum that includes dynamic discussions, activities and fun running games. The program culminates with girls positively impacting their communities through a service project and being physically and emotionally prepared to complete a celebratory 5K event. Throughout 2023, Girls on the Run of Northwest Indiana will be celebrating their 16th anniversary and look forward to many more years of positively influencing the lives of girls in their communities.