WHS class raises funds to support Safe Voices

On Sunday, June 1, the Windham High School Girls Group members ran and finished their first ever 5K road race, raising money and awareness for Safe Voices, an organization dedicated to supporting and empowering those affected by domestic violence and engaging the community in creating social change.

Girls Group is a semester-long course for which Windham High School students must be nominated, apply and be accepted. The class focuses on the development of leadership, goal setting and healthy lifestyle skills, and requires members to take on new challenges and adventures, including surfing, hiking, and vegan cooking. Their “final exam” is to, as a group, find, train and fundraise for a 5K of their choosing. 

Girls Group members Tegan Bradley, Nicole Gelinas, Madison McEnroe and Chantelle King selected the 1^st Annual Safe Voices 5K, held in Lewiston, and set a goal of raising $1,000 for the cause. Through the generous donations of sponsors, (including the Windham Police Association, PNF, Cross Insurance, AllMed, The Good Life Market, Bob the Screenprinter, Tricia Zwirner and State Farm, WHS Interact Club, WHS Baseball, WHS Girls’ Basketball, Windham Tattoo and Body Piercing, Café Sebago, Children’s Adventure Day Care, Bob’s Seafood, Cassablanca Comics, A La Mexicana, Smitty’s, Studio Flora, Fisherman’s Catch, Buck’s Naked BBQ, Bull Moose and Raezors Salon), whose names or logos were included on the girls’ race day shirts, Windham High School Girls Group raised over $1,200!

Purple, the color for domestic abuse prevention and awareness, was brought to a whole new level with the Windham High Girls Group. Arriving in logo laden purple shirts designed by Girls Group member Tegan Bradley, and decked in purple tutus, temporary tattoos, ribbons and knee socks, the girls, and two of their teachers, stood out over the 3-mile course. Spectators cheered them on with comments that included “Go Windham High School!”