RRCA grants more than $35,000 to forty-two youth running programs in twenty-seven states.
ARLINGTON, Virginia – September 5, 2019 – The Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) is pleased to announce the 2019 Kids Run the Nation grant recipients. Forty-two programs from 27 states, serving more than 11,000 children, will receive a total of $35,100 in grants from the RRCA. RRCA member clubs and events, along with individual donors, have once again shown their support for gender-inclusive, participation-based running education through their contributions to the Kids Run the Nation Fund. The RRCA will also donate copies of the Program Guide for Teachers, Coaches, and Program Leaders and the Running Guide for Kids booklet to additional programs.
A new program at The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Club in Richmond, VA aims to teach youth about the importance of physical activity and exercise and its impact on their future. Serving ages 6-18, the twice-weekly Run Club will follow the school year calendar and provide learning opportunities and physical activity engagement tailored to specific age groups and their interests and abilities. An over-arching learning objective for the program will be goal-setting, empowering each child to develop personal goals, and learn how to track and measure their progress and completion of these goals.
Kickin’ Asphalt in Grove, OK targets high-risk youth ages 12 to 18 and welcomes kids of all ages to participate. At twice-weekly sessions during fall and spring seasons, each participant is assigned an adult mentor who works to instill knowledge of positive role modeling, goal setting, improving self-esteem, and living a healthy lifestyle. On select Saturdays, program participants and their mentors participate in races through the WINGS running program, funded by the Cherokee Nation, in preparation for an end-of-season goal event such as a 10k or half marathon. Fifty percent of Kickin’ Asphalt participants are Native American, and many runners are referred to the program as an alternative for entering the court system.
The Anderson (IN) Road Runners Club has been offering the Roady Racers program to Anderson and surrounding communities for more than 20 years. The ability-inclusive summer program, taking place over 15 weeks, welcomes 175 children ages one to 19. The program utilizes the Kids Run the Nation curriculum and incorporates running activities where all participants cheer on the efforts of every runner. Family members are encouraged to run or walk with the children to foster a love for the sport and promote a healthy lifestyle, and each child earns a ribbon for each run completed and each personal record (PR) achieved.
The youth running programs chosen to receive grants this year represent the diversity of the Kids Run the Nation Fund’s impact, both geographically and demographically. The following is a complete list of this year’s 42 Kids Run the Nation grant recipients:
Spark Running Clubs – Fayetteville, AR
FitKidz Club – Tucson, AZ
Kids Marathon Series – Shonto, AZ
Heather Bremen – Barstow, CA
Stonegate Striders – Irvine, CA
HMF FitKids in School – Glastonbury, CT
Free Runners – Washington, DC
Waterstone Run Club – South Miami, FL
Stinger Bees Cross Country Running Club – Sanford, FL
S.S. Dixon Intermediate Running Club – Pace, FL
Discovery Oaks Elementary School Run/Walk Club – Orange Park, FL
Morning Miles – Kailua, HI
Kids Run the Nation – Chicago, IL
YMCA Kids Running Club – Canton, IL
Seven Oaks Running Club – Bloomington, IN
Roady Racers – Anderson, IN
Community Day School Running Program – Girard, KS
LeGrande Running Club – Horse Cave, KY
Cougar Mileage Club – Denham Springs, LA
Youth Run NOLA – New Orleans, LA
Junior Bulldogs Running Club – Jamaica Plain, MA
SRR Kids – West Somerville, MA
We Run Club – Raleigh, NC
KIDS Klub FitKids 5K – North Platte, NE
Warriors on the Run Club – Huber Heights, OH
TEEN Running Club – Columbus, OH
Kickin’ Asphalt – Grove, OK
Bridgeport Blazing Bulldogs – Tualatin, OR
CV Primary Kids of Steel – Bridgeville, PA
GTC Rabbits Youth Program – Greenville, SC
Beresford Running Club – Beresford, SD
Kids Run Cleveland – Cleveland, TN
Running Buddies & Fitness Camino 5K – Austin, TX
Pinkerton Bullets Running Club – Coppell, TX
Christie Running Club – Plano, TX
Brown Elementary Wildcat Walk-N-Run Warriors – Tyler, TX
Stallions Running Club – New Braunfels, TX
Henderson Huskies Running Team – Dumfries, VA
SABGC Run Club – Richmond, VA
Kids on the Run – Salisbury, VT
Kids Run Club Program – Beckley, WV
Boys & Girls Club of Douglas Running Club – Douglas, WY
“The 42 programs receiving Kids Run the Nation grants this year are giving kids the building blocks to construct a healthy lifestyle through educational, inclusive, and fun programming in schools and communities nationwide,” explains Erica Gminski, the RRCA’s Youth Programs Manager. “No two of these programs are alike, and the differing approaches to fostering a love for the sport of running in positive, encouraging settings speak to the diversity of the populations served by our grantees. Each program helps to further the Kids Run the Nation program’s goal of combating childhood obesity and developing a wellness-focused generation.”
About Kids Run the Nation: The Kids Run the Nation program is a gender inclusive, multi-week, turnkey, youth running program designed to meet the physical activity goals outline by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for children in kindergarten through sixth grade. A midcourse report issued by the USDA, “Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans,” outlines clear evidence that bringing physical activity into schools positively impacts youth. Since 2007, the RRCA has provided over $286,000 in small grants to deserving youth running programs around the country through the Kids Run the Nation Fund. The goal of the RRCA’s Kids Run the Nation program is to help establish locally managed youth running programs in every school and community across the U.S.
About the RRCA: The Road Runners Club of America (RRCA) is the oldest and largest national association of running organizations and runners dedicated to growing the sport since 1958. The RRCA champions the development of community-based running clubs and events that serve runners of all ages and abilities in pursuit of health and competition. The RRCA’s vision is to see an organized running club established in every community in the U.S. To learn more, visit: www.RRCA.org
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