Giving Back Together: The LaCroix Family’s SoleMates Journey

For the LaCroix family, giving back has become another way to stay connected. Last spring, the family joined SoleMates, taking on different events and distances and ultimately raising $4,025 – enough to sponsor a large Girls on the Run team for a full season!

The LaCroixs’ connection to Girls on the Run Rhode Island began when Anna, Kirsten and Chad’s younger daughter, participated in the program in 4th grade. The experience resonated with the family, particularly its emphasis on building skills and confidence through physical activity. “We loved how the focus was a strengths-based approach, pro-healthy skills, and used running as an outlet”, Kirsten explained.

For Anna, who took on the Newport Half Marathon as part of the family’s campaign, Girls on the Run offered an early experience of what it means to challenge yourself alongside others. She still remembers running the culminating 5K with her dad and feeling excited to spot her friends and classmates along the course. “I loved the space that Girls on the Run created after school… The program gave me the confidence to join track in middle school and continue running in high school. However, more than that, it showed me how empowering it was to be a part of a supportive and inspiring group of people.”

Giving Back Together

The family’s connection to Girls on the Run Rhode Island grew further when Kirsten joined the organization's Board of Directors. This sparked the “famraiser” idea, as Kirsten jokingly called it. “My family's excitement about me joining the board and their own goal-setting pursuits felt like a way to give back while being physically apart and to stay connected to something bigger… it’s turned into something energizing and fun.”

 “As a Dad,” Chad reflects, “one of my favorite things has been supporting my own girls in their pursuits, and running was a big one. I have logged many miles running with my girls, and it has always been special to me to run with them.”

That experience made SoleMates a natural fit for the LaCroixs: “Running and raising money for Girls on the Run has been special because it couples our enjoyment of being active while doing good for an organization we believe in. While our girls have left the house and are pursuing their own life goals this has helped us stay connected as a family and give back”, Chad explains. “We feel fortunate for the experiences our girls have had and for the people who have coached and supported them.”

A SoleMates Journey

The family understood the campaign to be a way to give back. What they didn't expect was how much encouragement would come back to them!

Chad found “much needed extra motivation” in the response from coworkers, family, and friends while training for the Boston Marathon brought its own mix of fun and challenge. For Kirsten, who chose to walk the scenic Newport 10 Miler, the responses to the campaign revealed something deeper: “I think we underestimated how hopeful and inspiring it would feel when people contribute to our campaign. The ripple effect is incredible, and you feel so grateful for people’s support, both for your goals and for Girls on the Run RI.”

Kirsten and Chad’s older daughter Elizabeth, an experienced runner who trained for the Boston Marathon, also highlights the power of running to bring people together: “I hope this campaign allows girls to find the same support network that I have through the sport… Running is so often viewed as an individual sport, but in all my years of running competitively, that has never been how it has felt. My college teammates and I had a metaphor called ‘the string.’ During a race or workout, even if we were not in stride with one another, we were all connected by an invisible string. The person at the front of the string pulls everyone behind them, and the person at the end pushes everyone forward.”

For Elizabeth, that idea extends far beyond competitive running: “Girls must learn at an early age that we are faster and stronger together; we all have an obligation to uplift one another, no matter where we are in the pack.”

While the LaCroixs’ individual journeys may have taken them along different roads, at different paces, and at different distances, their SoleMates journey allowed them to give back together while staying connected to one another.

For anyone thinking about joining SoleMates, Kirsten’s advice is simple: “Do it!… No contribution is too small. Having something to work toward, connecting with others, and giving back just feels like a triple win.”