VALDOSTA – Thanks to the Azalea City Civic Club’s continued community efforts, a $9,000 check benefits Girls on the Run South Georgia. 

The club presented the donation to Girls on the Run Thursday afternoon at the Valdosta Country Club.

Girls on the Run is an all-girl, after-school program that utilizes 5Ks and running laps to educate third- to eighth-grade students on the importance of life skills.

The nonprofit has sites in Valdosta, Lowndes County and Brooks County schools.

With an expansion into the Cook County school system, Lauren Hurley, Girls on the Run program director, said the donation will help add more students to the program.

“We want to be everywhere. We want 100 percent saturation,” she said. “We want every girl to be a part of the program.”

Funding for the donation came from the Azalea City Civic Club’s Taste of Georgia event held mid-June.

Bryan Deal, ACCC past president and board member, said the event raised about 30 percent more funding than previous years for Girls on the Run.

The club donates annually because of the nonprofit’s mission.

“We know that the funds that we give them go to the right spot,” he said. “It’s truly funding a mission that we support which is bettering kids in our community.”

Deal said the ACCC works to raise awareness and use its networking to support Girls on the Run.

Details on how schools can partner with Girls on the Run can be obtained by emailing lauren.hurley@girlsontherun.org.