Girls on the Run, a Nonprofit Group
In honor of Kingsport’s 100th birthday in 2017, I decided as a business to donate 100 hours of organizing services to nonprofit groups this year. I have learned about so many groups who are doing great work, and I have enjoyed helping each one with their individual organizing needs. One of these groups is Girls on the Run (GOTR) of Northeast Tennessee. This affiliate of a national group teaches a curriculum based on whole body health by using running as a unifying activity. Girls in grades 3-8 who are registered for the program meet after school two days a week for a 10 week curriculum in the fall and/or the spring, and each session terminates in a non-competitive 5 kilometer race. I had no idea the extent of this group’s impact until I met with them to discuss the project.
GOTR rents storage space in a facility that serves many area nonprofits. Just before I met with them, they had learned that they would be able to have all of their materials in one space instead of two spaces on two different levels. Several volunteers had moved all of the supplies into the new space, which was extremely helpful. However, because of the timing of the move, it wasn’t possible for this to be supervised so that it could be performed in an orderly manner. We had quite a daunting task to sift through all of the materials that had all been piled into one small space. Slowly we arranged like with like and decided what could be donated or discarded.
A local church group volunteered to construct some wooden shelves for their new storage space. The shelves were a tremendous help. GOTR staff purchased clear bins with lids. Once all of the supplies had been grouped, we began the process of choosing the correct size bins for each category of supplies, labelling the bins, and placing them on the new shelves.
The end result was dramatic to say the least! Not only is everything arranged neatly and labelled clearly, the GOTR staff has a well-defined plan for maintaining the order. When curriculum or race supplies are returned to storage, if there isn’t time to immediately return them to their proper location, they have established a temporary “drop zone” for them. On a regular basis, the drop zone items will be put back where they belong. It was wonderful to see such a big change and to know that the steps are in place to successfully maintain the order.
Storage Room (Before)
