[Editor’s Note: March is Women’s History Month! For the last seven days of March, we’re highlighting seven stories of women moving the needle forward in trail running and ultrarunning. Each article offers you a way to take action and elevate the women who make up our community. Let’s celebrate!]
How about this for innovation! The good folks of Trail Sisters, in partnership with The North Face, have introduced the Trail Sisters Childcare Grant for U.S. trail running women. Every quarter in 2021, six women with kids will be awarded $150 each to put toward taking care of their kids so they can run. So, over the course of 2021, $3,600 will be divided among 24 women.
Of the grants, Trail Sisters’s founder Gina Lucrezi says, “There are plenty of barriers that keep people from doing things. What pops up in my communication with women is that they say that they have kids at home and struggle with getting away to train and race. The North Face and Trail Sisters together brainstormed these childcare grants as a real way to break down that barrier.”
What’s even better, you can help expand the program so that it reaches more women by making a donation! The more donations the Trail Sisters receive, the more childcare grants they will hand out this year. And, The North Face will match those donations dollar for dollar at up to $500 per quarter.
This is one of the most direct and innovative ways I’ve ever seen for each of us to tangibly help create an equitable playing field for women trail runners. Click over to the Trail Sisters Childcare Grants presented by The North Face website to learn more, apply, and donate.
And finally, if you’re a woman who runs trails, be sure to join the Trail Sisters Communities and check out their many resources while you’re there!
