KALISPELL - Getting kids out to play and connect with others is important for their mental and physical health.
This week's Unsung Hero Kim Holloway makes that easier through Girls on the Run.
“It's all about meeting girls where they are and encouraging their journey to a healthy lifestyle, whether it's physical or emotional. So we work hard to give girls the tools to have confidence in themselves and each other and to be able to communicate with each other. And to understand that their peers are going through the same things that they are so they're not alone in that,” said Holloway, who is the Girls on the Run Flathead Valley council director.
Girls on the Run Flathead Valley is an after-school program for girls in third through eighth grade that helps girls create a healthy lifestyle. The girls get together to run, play games and talk about some of the struggles in their lives.
“I feel like the work that we do and what our coaches do for these girls is giving them so many tools that they can use to be able to talk to people and know, I can go to this person. I think it builds some really strong bonds with the coaches as well as the people that they're there that are on their team,” explained Holloway.
Holloway works behind the scenes in the program organizing events, doing community outreach and building teams, fundraising and much more. Earlier this summer, they announced they will expand their reach beyond Flathead and Lake counties and become Girls on the Run Western Montana.
“You know, I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the work that I've been able to do. When we first worked to bring Girls on the Run here I never in a million years imagined this is where I would be. I did not ever envision it in this capacity. So it has been a huge learning experience. But I'm very, very proud of it and I'm humbled by it and hearing kind words from people or hearing from kids who had a great season. And it just like melts my heart. It's like okay, it matters it all matters, we’re making a difference,” said Holloway.
Holloway launched the program in the Flathead in 2017 to give her daughters an opportunity that she wished she had growing up.
“I look at it from my perspective. I could have used that at that age I could have used a program that taught me it's okay to feel this or to think that and you don't have to be the best at everything you do. Find what is what works for you,” said Holloway.
There is a Girls on the Run 5K and party at the end of every season to celebrate the accomplishments and growth of the girls.
“When they cross that finish line and get a medal and they've done it, you just see it on their face. And literally, I cry at every 5K. But it's an amazing place to be and you're just so proud,” said Holloway.
Visit https://www.gotrwesternmt.org/ for more information about Girls on the Run in the Flathead Valley.
