Girls on the Run-York Region & GTA Named Finalist for 2012 Great Grants Award

News provided by

Ontario Trillium Foundation

Feb 22, 2012, 20:19 ET

Ontario Trillium Foundation recognizes project's outstanding impact 

TORONTO, Feb. 22, 2012 /CNW/ -

NEWS

The Ontario Trillium Foundation today announced that Girls on the Run, York Region & GTA, is a finalist for the prestigious 2012 Great Grants Awards. The awards recognize Ontario organizations that have demonstrated exceptional results, innovation and a lasting impact on the communities they serve.

Girls on the Run has been selected as a finalist in the sport and recreation category. A total of eight 2012 Great Grants Awards recipients will be recognized in the presence of Hon. Michael Chan, Ontario Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, at a ceremony in Toronto on March 23.

FINALIST PROFILE

Girls on the Run, York Region & GTA

Reaching the finish line for a better start

In a race, what lies on the other side of the finish line? Victory of course, but also the promise of a lifetime of self-respect and healthy living for Girls on the Run participants. The popular after-school social recreation program for Grades 3 to 8 girls combines training for a non-competitive 5K event with developing self-esteem and strong values. It relies on mentoring relationships and physical and life skills training delivered through an active collaboration with students and their parents, schools, volunteers, staff and the community. Seventy-five schools are already signed up for the spring of 2012. This dynamic organization, a chapter of Girls on the Run International, was asked to share its knowhow and open a national office. Girls on the Run Canada is now operational and is working on its expansion across Canada, changing young girls' lives one race at a time.

Girls on the Run was awarded a Community grant of $123,100 over three years in 2007.

QUOTES

"We are very proud of Girls on the Run, York Region & GTA, and are excited that, with this nomination, its work in the community will now be acknowledged across Ontario. Its efforts go to the heart of the Foundation's own work: to support good ideas and help foster community connections that improve people's quality of life."

Savi Singh, OTF Grant Review Team Chair for Simcoe-York

"We are honoured to be chosen as a finalist of the 2012 Great Grants Awards. Through the support provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, Girls on the Run has been able to empower girls across the Greater Toronto Area with the life skills they require for a life time of self-respect and healthy living.  We are truly grateful to the Foundation."

Rina De Donato, Council Director, GOTR/GTA

QUICK FACTS

  • Ontario Trillium Foundation Great Grants Award finalists were selected from among some 4,500 groups that received OTF support between April 2006 and December 2010

  • Eight Great Grants Awards will be presented on March 23 in Toronto:
    • One award for each of OTF's four funded sectors: arts and culture, sports and recreation, environment, and human and social services
    • The Minister's Award
    • The Chair's Award
    • The CEO's Award
    • The People's Choice Award


  • OTF grants funding to approximately 1,500 organizations each year.

MORE

 

Renée Ouellet
Ontario Trillium Foundation
1.800.263.2887 ext. 265
[email protected]

Rina De Donato
Girls on the Run
[email protected]

Organization Profile

Ontario Trillium Foundation