Gamma Phi Beta’s vision is to inspire the highest type of womanhood. One of the ways we do so is through our philanthropy, Girls on the Run. Girls on the Run, or GOTR, is an afterschool club for 8-13 year old girls in which they are taught lessons such as how to be confident, how to be a good friend, and how to be a leader. These lessons and more are creatively int
egrated with running in order to also inspire girls to be healthy and to strive to complete their goal of running a 5k at the end of the semester.
As our philanthropic partner, we are actively engaged with girls on the run throughout the year. Many of our chapter women act as coaches for the girls on the run teams, and every semester we volunteer at the 5k. Amy Roesch, a fall 2019 member, reflected on her coaching experience so far and said that “even though I’ve only been coaching at the elementary school for a few weeks now, I can already see the internal growth that the girls have made both in their confidence and in running!” She also explained how she was excited to continue to see their development until the 5k. For our members who are not coaches, we still help by volunteering at said 5k; there we help do girls' hair, decorate girls’ running bibs with ‘bib bling’, help put on temporary GOTR face tattoos, hand out medals, and cheer on the girls running.
By being paired with GOTR, we also have the unique opportunity to see the impact we make both on the girls and in our community. Molly Sankey, a member of our fall 2019 new member class, says that “watching the girls at the 5K have so much fun and seeing their growth throughout the program is amazing and really shows the impact of our philanthropy.” Many women who were in girls on the run as elementary schoolers have reflected on their time in GOTR and said that they still remember the lessons they learned and it helped them become the women they are today. Alexis Pullos, a fall 2021 member, explained that “each sister is able to impact a strong girl in the Gainesville community” by being a member of Gamma Phi Beta.
If anyone wants to help build strong girls and inspire the highest type of womanhood with us, our philanthropic fundraiser, Moonball, is on April 8th this year and all proceeds go directly to our local chapter of Girls on the Run. The Girls on the Run 5k is also scheduled to be on April 23rd if you want to come cheer on the girls of your local community! We hope to see you all at one of these events and that we have helped to explain how Gamma Phi Beta builds strong girls.
With Love,
Eta Xi chapter of Gamma Phi Beta