Sarah Delgadillo has always been a community-minded person, which is why it’s no surprise that she holds the position of Executive Director for Girls On The Run Northeast Indiana.
Delgadillo has been in the position for six months, and her previous work is in economic development and education. Her mindset and leadership make her a great person to get to know for Women’s History Month.
“This organization is really focused on helping young girls find their voice and understand who they are. I felt like I had great people in my life growing up that really helped me do that, and we just wanted to pass it along to the next generation,” Delgadillo said.
Delgadillo has two girls of her own, and she would love for them to be part of the program when they are old enough. The program is for girls who are in third through eighth grade, with one season in the spring and one in the fall.
“We are an after-school positive youth empowerment program that really focuses on helping girls become athletic or energetic. Movement is important to us. As well as confidence and to be healthy and strong,” Delgadillo said.
Some people think they’re only a running program.
“We’re more focused on the social and emotional side of helping girls be healthy, socially, mentally, physically, and spiritually. We do add that as a component, but really helping these girls be able to understand what’s coming towards them in life, to deal with their emotions, deal with friendships, and difficult things, maybe that are happening in a home or at school,” Delgadillo said. “Just preparing them with the life skills that they need to go forward.”
The significance of the program is for girls to be active and develop good habits.
“We say about 40 percent of the girls who were not active before the program, say after the program, they become active,” Delgadillo said. “We want them to make goals for themselves that are challenging and that, in the end, they can see that they can reach those goals.”
The final goal of the program is a 5K, which is a big feat for a third grader!
“It’s amazing to see these girls transform in those weeks,” Delgadillo said.
At the end of the program, they also do a service project. They’re helping the girls by inspiring them to have purpose and meaning in life, but also giving back to the community that they live in.
It’s in Delgadillo’s nature to give back to the community. She grew up in northwest Ohio. Once, she did some volunteer work in Mexico, serving food, clothing, and helping build homes. When she returned, she landed in Northeast Indiana, which is where she met her husband, who is originally from Bolivia. Delgadillo said that as a kid, her husband read engineering magazines and said he wanted to come to Indiana.
“For us, this is home, and we want to be able to give back. We want the community to grow and thrive. We also want girls in the community to feel like this is home for them. If they go away for a time, as I and others have done, we want to make sure that they have a chance to come back and reinvest in the community that they’ve grown up in,” Delgadillo said.
Each season closes with a 5K, and the spring season will close on May 17th with a run at Shoaff Park at 1 p.m.
“Anybody can sign up. It is a non-competitive 5K, so it’s more of a celebratory event for the girls. But people can come out and cheer them on or run with them,” Delgadillo said. “We do ask for running buddies.”
Success for the program is for it to continue to grow with girls participating in the program. Since 2012, 2,500 girls in the region have participated. Nationwide, over 2 million girls have participated in the program.
“We know that these girls have had the opportunity to learn this research-based curriculum that provides them with these tools to become joyful, confident, and healthy,” Delgadillo said.
Personally, for Delgadillo, it’s seeing that every girl sees that they can win in life.
“That’s really where I find the success, is that each girl comes away with this new confidence that says, ‘I can do these hard things,’” Delgadillo said.
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