Adolescence should be a time of innocence, growth, learning, and discovering ourselves, our bodies, and our values. But the truth is that adolescence is hard, especially for teen girls going through changes from head to toe.

Did you know that 1 in 8 girls from North Dakota attempt suicide? More than 50% have unhealthy body esteem, and 1 in 3 girls state their mental health is not good. These alarming stats come directly from BIO Girls, a nonprofit that aims to build self-esteem in young girls and teens through their researched-backed programs.

Founder of BIO (Beautiful Inside & Out) Girls, Missy Heilman, joins Patty Post of Checkable Health to share the BIO Girls' mission to improve the mental wellness of our children by focusing on life skill development through positive mentoring and physical activity. Self-esteem is one of the strongest predictors of behavioral and emotional problems, and that’s why Missy dedicated the last decade to growing their volunteer-led program in the Midwest.

With a curriculum developed by Dr. Beth Salafia, Professor at North Dakota State University in the Human Development and Family Science Department, girls in grades 2 to 11 participate in hands-on experiences that teach lessons in kindness, leadership, friendships, and the importance of self-worth. Children who have mentors outside of their families have higher self-esteem, and BIO Girls is undoubtedly making a big impact in the lives of these girls and the greater community.

If your child has experienced increased anxiety post-pandemic, struggles with self-esteem or body dysmorphia, or you’re interested in becoming a mentor or donating, tune in to this podcast to learn more about how BIO Girls is re-shaping our youth!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• The BIO Girls mission and curriculum
• Missy’s inspiration for BIO Girls
• Creating BIO Girls’ curriculum
• Social media education
• Growing BIO Girls and building a community
• A BIO Girls success story
• How you can support BIO Girls

Join the movement and sign up for BIO Girls Newsletter here: https://www.biogirls.org/connect

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Connect with Missy:

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Check out our podcast selection for valuable info on health, wellness, and more, and continue the conversation in the Hero Moms Social Group on Facebook! 

Connect with Checkable Health:

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Connect with Patty Post:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patty-post/

About Checkable

Checkable is revolutionizing healthcare with fast and accurate at-home test kits, telehealth services, and a line of wellness supplements designed to keep you feeling your best while saving valuable time and money. At the forefront of home healthcare, Checkable is developing the first FDA-approved at-home strep test. Paired with a proprietary digital telemedicine platform to instantly connect consumers with healthcare professionals, you can skip the doctor's office and start treatment fast, right from the comforts of your home. http://www.testforstrep.com

This episode was post-produced by Podcast Boutique www.podcastboutique.com

Transcript: 

0:00:04.6 S1: Welcome to The Checkable Health Podcast, where we're helping everyday moms rethink how their healthcare begins at home, through healthy living, access to information and technology. On each episode, we interview healthcare providers and experts on topics that affect us as mothers as we raise our children. We will cover topics across the spectrum of health to bring awareness of important issues, conditions, therapies, and technology. We believe your healthcare begins at home with us moms. The healthier we are, the healthier our loved ones are. Today we have Missy Heilman, who is founder of BIO Girls. Missy, thank you so much for joining me.

0:00:50.2 S2: It is my pleasure to be here, Patty. Thank you for having me.

0:00:53.6 S1: I have been in the greater Fargo-Moorhead area for two years, and this is the first time meeting, but I have heard about you literally like a year before I moved here and heard about BIO Girls, and all the great things that you're doing. And you are truly inspirational, and you are changing so many lives of young girls in our community and in other communities across the country, so I'd love for you to share with us your mission and what BIO Girls is all about.

0:01:24.1 S2: Definitely. Well, thank you. BIO stands for beautiful inside and out. I always get that question, so I start with that, and our mission is to increase the self-esteem of adolescent girls through empowerment of self and service to others. We do this in two ways. So our traditional program is for youth in second through sixth grade. It's a 12-week program, so about 24 hours of hands-on programming where we combine small-group mentoring, character-building lessons and physical activity, all evidence-based and proven methods for increasing self-esteem into our program. And our program is proven, so we have the research that shows that seven of 10 girls that participate in our program increase their self-esteem over those 12 weeks. In this last year, we implemented some studies around mental wellness or mental health, and also showed that 50% of our participants decrease their feelings of anxiety, which is a big issue in young girls, another... We're really excited too, because we, in addition to our youth program, are in the process of piloting a program for teenagers, so we'll be able to impact girls from age seven all the way through 18.

0:02:45.6 S1: Wow, that is amazing. Research backed, too, so tell us some of that, of the research that you've done. Yeah, definitely.

0:02:55.5 S2: Back in the early days, people would say, oh, that sounds fun. Well, yes, we have a lot of fun at BIO Girls, that's part of it, but it's intentional. Our mission is to increase the self-esteem of girls, and so we want to show that we are actually doing that, and so we have validated survey tools that we use, that we administer the first week of the session and the last week of the 12-week season, and we do a comparison between the two to show that we are in fact reaching our intended outcome, which is to increase self-esteem in girls. We used to have a team of university professors that administered that research on our behalf, but in the last 12 months, just over 12 months, we've been able to bring Dr. Beth Salafia onboard, on staff, so she is overseeing the research process, as well as the curriculum development.

0:03:56.0 S1: Wow, that's phenomenal. And you are a non-profit? Correct, we are a 501(c)(3). What are these programs that you have for the girls?

0:04:08.6 S2: Yeah, so as I mentioned that our youth program is a 12-week program, we cover topics that are proven to impact the self-esteem of girls, the first one being kindness. So not only being kind to your peers or your family members, but being kind to yourself. Research has shown that girls develop, well all youth, but we focus on girls so I say girls; girls develop that inner voice right around that third- or fourth-grade age, and oftentimes, unfortunately, Patty, that inner voice is a critic. And so we are changing that internal narrative for girls and helping them to develop the skills to understand these thoughts, where they stem from, and then how to change them. So kindness is the first one, developing healthy relationships, and so at this age are focusing mainly on friendships, but building those healthy characteristics of relationships, because if you can do that with friends, then you'll be able to do that with all relationships as you continue to grow and develop. The third area we talk about is leadership. As a female, as a female leader it is really important to me to help to develop the next generation of strong female leaders. Research shows that girls [are] far more likely than boys to not do something because they're afraid they'll fail. And research showing that girls are giving up the things that they love to do because they have perfectionist tendencies or they failed one time at it, where somebody said they need to improve, they're quitting, they're quitting what they love.

0:05:59.0 S2: And so we're teaching girls at this young age to overcome the fear of failure and instead use it as a growth opportunity. And then the final topic that we cover is mental wellness topics, primarily around anxiety and feelings of anxiety. Research shows, especially since the pandemic hit, the levels of anxiety in our kids has just shot through the roof, so it's become even more important in the last three years. We teach kids again, to understand and to recognize those feelings of anxiety and then provide skills for them to help overcome those feelings and to reduce those feelings. So that's the curriculum. Again, it is research-based, so we use a lot of activities that are proven to help in each of those areas. Mentors are a really important part of our program. It is proven that kids who have a mentor outside of their family nucleus have higher self-esteem, so we're connecting girls with other women in their communities who become a cheerleader, a friend, and a mentor to them. Relationships do form, and it's really cool to see that. There are girls that... When I started BIO Girls back in 2013, that were participants in those very first couple of years that I still bump into.

0:07:35.7 S2: In fact, I bumped into one at back-to-school night for my youngest this year, she was working in the snow-cone stand outside the school, and I was chatting with another parent, and we got to the front of the line that I was paying no attention to who was inside the snow-cone stand. And she said, Missy, is that you? Just a girl who I worked with when she was, I think, third, fourth and fifth grade. She's now a sophomore at UND, and she's like, I will never forget your voice. So it's really cool to see those connections like that and be able to show that there's people in the community that care about these kids, that’s so important for these kids. And then the final component is physical activity. Of course, physical activity is a critical component of mental wellness and so that's the primary reason that we incorporate it in. It's non-competitive, so we are not trying to produce superstars. We don't care about the end result, what we care about is teaching kids that they can do hard things, that they can set goals, to show them if they're accountable, they can reach those goals.

0:08:55.1 S2: Our traditional program incorporates running, so many people in our community and the communities where we have programming, see the running and view us as a running club, which I understand, that's what they see us doing. We're so much more than that, but the running component is really important because there are girls who come in and think it's impossible to run a 5K. And we work with them over those 12 weeks to accomplish that goal. So it's really fun to see. We understand that not everybody loves to run, or parents don't think their kids can run a 5K, so we've diversified our programming over the years to include yoga and CrossFit options as well. So that's our youth program in a nutshell. Our teen program is a little bit different structure, it's module based. So there's five modules, we have mental wellness, healthy relationships, self-confidence, faith, and now I'm gonna forget...oh, body image, body image is the last one. There are five sessions each, two hours long. So it's not as much of a commitment. And you can pick and choose which ones you want to be a part of. So we're really excited about that. The demand is really high from parents, because of course, issues don't stop when girls reach sixth grade, in fact, argue that they probably...

0:10:29.7 S2: They're more of a struggle as they get older. The problems become larger. Yeah. And so we're really excited to be able to be a resource for not only elementary-aged girls, but also for teen girls. That self-limiting belief that you can't finish something and then doing the training and then completing the 5K, how that can apply to so many areas of a person's life. And for a young girl to learn that early on, that if she wants to do something, that all you have to do is just put a program together and look at, you can do it. And I think as a society and running, we're like, oh, we're not that, we're not that runner's body or we're not that runner. But it's not the act of like, I'm gonna finish at a 7:30 pace. I'm gonna finish this. That when you said that about the running part, I've heard people say that, I'm like, but when Lilly finished the 5K, we did that together. And she still talks about it, and she talks about it as an accomplishment. The program of the foundation, you've really built a substantial foundation for these girls of curriculum, how did you..

0:11:46.1 S1: Are you a teacher in your past life? How did you put this... This is phenomenal. How do you put this all together? What was the inspiration?

0:11:55.4 S2: Yeah, my kids, my kids were the inspiration. Back in 2013, when I started the program, I had two young girls, and as a mom, I just became so sensitive to the messages that they're receiving from every form of media, and of course, with the continual evolution of social media, it was kind of scary to think about. And on the flip side, I had some fantastic mentors when I was growing up, and so I just wanted to pay it forward and be a mentor for other girls who maybe don't have the opportunity, like my kids do to be involved in everything. The other thing that I wanna mention that ties back into the 5K and the running, I've been an athlete my entire life. I grew up in a small rural community. I played four sports, was in band and choir. I went on and competed in college and track and field, but when I think back to my childhood, sports and athletics were an opportunity to relieve stress, to have fun, to be social. It's anything but that in today’s culture. There's so much focus on achievement and perfection and being the best at such a young age that we've taken away...

0:13:18.0 S2: We as adults have taken away just the pure joy of trying things to see what you like, and instead we're asking kids to commit to something year round when they're in middle, elementary school. And that was another inspiration for me to create a program where it wasn't about results and achievement, it wasn’t about finding what you're amazing at. It’s a place where you can come and it's okay to be you, it's okay to walk some of the run if you need to. Yeah. It's totally fine, as long as you're moving forward and you're working towards your goal, we're good with that. And so gives girls a place where they truly can come and they can feel like they can be themselves without the pressure that some of the other things put on them today. So that's the curriculum. The curriculum, when I first started BIO Girls, it was built around just learned-and-lived experience. And I had enlisted the help of some friends, and friends of friends who are teachers and counselors and working with kids on an everyday basis to understand what it is we could teach kids, and you know, how could we make it fun and engaging in a non-school setting.

0:14:40.7 S2: That was really important because kids who are in school all day, the last thing they wanna do is sit and listen again. And so how do we make it engaging and fun for them? Over the years, our program has matured in so many ways on so many levels. As I mentioned, Dr. Beth Salafia, who's a PhD in Behavioral Sciences has come onboard and has taken over the curriculum. We also have a program advisory committee, it's people who are much smarter than I am when it comes to working with children and behavioral health and mental health, who oversee our curriculum. They review it every year. We will replace lessons if some things become outdated. I also give the example of social media, when I started BIO Girls in 2013, very few girls had cell phones that were program age, and if they did, they certainly did not have social media. Now fast-forward to 2022, the majority of second to sixth graders coming to our program have a cell phone and many of them, if not, the majority have some sort of social media. And so our lesson on social media back in 2013, 2014 was about internet safety, now it's much more inclusive of safety, but also reality versus what you see on social media, social comparison, do’s and don’ts. 

0:16:14.8 S2: And so our curriculum evolves over time based on what's happening with our youth so that we continue to be relevant with the youth. Wow. That has to be a tremendous amount of work because the trends they have... We both have kids that are in the later teenage years, and what they went through versus our younger ones. Gosh, it’s a totally different way of parenting now. So how many do you have on your team?

0:16:47.2 S1: So we have nine full-time and two part-time employees. Wow, and then you rely heavily on volunteers.

0:16:59.2 S1: You mentioned the mentoring, tell us about being a mentor. Yeah.

0:17:05.8 S2: So our program is 100% volunteer facilitated, meaning everybody that leads programs is a volunteer.

0:17:16.0 S2: With the exception, we have some staff that do it, but they do it outside of their work day. I still continue to run a BIO Girls 12-week session, which is starting in a couple of months, and I can't wait. It's my favorite part of my job still. So yes, we rely on... It's all women today, it's not a requirement, but women just connect with our mission. This is not scientific, but I would venture to guess 98% of our volunteers say, I wish I would have had BIO Girls when I was growing up. And 99% say I get as much out of the program as the kids do.Yeah. So it's a powerful volunteer opportunity, we have what we call site directors, they're the women who raise their hand and say, I will bring BIO Girls to my community, we need it here. So they are the ones that we work with and train heavily on leading the program, because they're not only facilitating the lessons with the kids, they're managing the other volunteers, the mentors; they are also communicating with the parents, and they are the advocate in their community for BIO Girls. So it's a big job, but it's amazing, we continue to grow every year, and it's all word of mouth, it's organic growth, it's people who know another volunteer in another community saying, how do we get that here?

0:18:43.6 S2: It's parents sharing what they've seen in their own daughter, with their sister out in Bismarck who says we need that here, and so it's all been organic growth, which has been incredible. We’ve had, well, this past year, in 2022, we had about 1,100 volunteers who have made our program possible, so really they are the heartbeat of BIO Girls. We work hard here at headquarters to provide an awesome program, but it's really our volunteers who really make our program possible in the communities that we're in. In 2023, we anticipate we will have 100 programs throughout our region.

0:19:32.1 S1: Gosh. So talk about the region, where? We have a lot of Midwest listeners, where can they find BIO Girls?

0:19:40.9 S2: Yeah, so we have operations in North Dakota, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. And those are the states that we will continue to focus our growth in. We do have a strategic goal to reach one in six North Dakota girls annually by 2025. In terms of volume that is 3,500 girls in North Dakota alone going through the program. And our intention behind that is that we know that when a greater volume of girls in a given geographic region or area go through the program, we impact community-level health, and we can make some changes at the community level. So our goal is to figure out how to do that in North Dakota, create that template and then bring that to the other states that we're in. That is so cool. So someone hears about you in Missoula, Montana, on this podcast, how could they...because I'm inspired, I want to learn more. How do they get in touch with you? Yep, definitely. Our website is a wealth of information and just beautiful. Our marketing director is amazing, and we just fill it with pictures of what it looks like to be a part of BIO Girls, we have a Contact Us form on there, but lots of other information as well, like if you wanted to bring the program to your community, everything you need to know is on the website, so take a look at that.

0:21:16.1 S2: We also do regular lunch and learns, we call them, a webinar over the lunch hour, about 30 minutes where you can get more information if you're like, I'm really interested, I'm just not sure yet. You can hop on there, hear more information than what you can find on the website and also have an opportunity to ask some questions. And it's biogirls.org.

0:21:41.5 S1: Dot org, that's important. So you have to have a hard choice there, I bet you get because word travels fast. But strategically, that must be nice to have the five states closest, given the weather, we can't get everywhere, super fast. But I did see on LinkedIn that you guys were thinking of other states, just nationally, and your big vision for BIO Girls, what's that? Do you wanna reach all 50 states?

0:22:16.2 S2: Yeah, people ask that all the time. And honestly, my answer is, we are just scratching the surface right in our region, and we're a small team, so we have to be realistic about what our goals are. Our strategic plan really helped shape what we say yes and no to. Our team is full of dreamers and doers, and not every dream can be fulfilled yet. So sometimes we have to table that. So to answer your question, I don't know if the dream is to go national because we are really committed to making a change, and that change is in the mental-health statistics that we're seeing in our girls right here in North Dakota. And quite honestly, Patty, we just got data from Minnesota as well, and it's just dire. So it’s not about numbers for us, it's about making change. A change in the health of our communities that we serve, and to be able to do that, it's all about volume right here in our backyard. Yeah.

0:23:19.8 S1: That's where you wanna put the investment in. Not to be exact, but can you share any of that data that was staggering to you? Yeah, absolutely. I think the most hard-hitting fact that we see in North Dakota, and it's equivalent... Now, we've seen the data in Minnesota, so this is that national data, this is right here in our home state of North Dakota, in our neighboring state of Minnesota, one in eight girls has attempted suicide. That is, right there is the why.

0:23:52.5 S2: Yes, there may be some other reasons, but low self-esteem is a very strong predictor of emotional and behavioral issues in kids, and girls especially. And sometimes it's hard for us to really articulate why it's so important because people think, oh, low self-esteem, someone has had a bad day. No, low self-esteem means that you feel bad about yourself most of the time. And when you feel bad about yourself most of the time and things keep chipping away at that self-esteem, pretty soon that low self esteem, which is really... Can be invisible, becomes visible in that through substance abuse, through eating disorders, through seeking external validation. And oftentimes that comes out in really risky sexual behavior. And then as I mentioned with the suicide rates, comes out in self-harm, and so that's why we re so focused on self-esteem. Because if we can help girls maintain a healthy level of self-esteem and give them some skills to combat the things that chip away at it, we are going to change those statistics. And the other important thing, we always get the question, Why don't you serve boys? Why not boys? They struggle too.

0:25:25.3 S2: Yes, we are aware of that, but if you look at the data, girls struggle at double the rates of boys when it comes to their mental health, thoughts of suicide, and their body esteem. Oh my Gosh, double?

0:25:42.0 S1: Double. Double the rate. And again, that was consistent in North Dakota and Minnesota. So our girls, they need us, they need extra support and connection. They just really need... They need BIO Girls. When I went to your event, something that was staggering to me was the overwhelming sense of community that those girls have. So we had the booth inside Scheels Arena, and when I went out, Lilly saw one of her friends, Elise, and there's about 45 minutes before the race started and I thought, gosh, what are they gonna do with all these girls for 45 minutes? You know these girls that were in the program, they were bopping around and talking to each other, laughing and taking… people are taking pictures of them, it was... it just felt so good. I think the big part of what we are lacking, and if it's attributed to the pandemic or just how society is now…

0:26:45.9 S2: But it's the lack of community. And if it's... You and I both are grounded in faith, and something that I really value is my community in my church, and BIO Girls, is that an important thing to you? Of the community within BIO Girls, was that strategic? Absolutely. One of the things I think I'm most proud of with the program is how it breaks down barriers between peers. In Fargo especially, and that's my experience because I lead a program in Fargo, we have kids coming from all different schools. In fact, in some of the outlying communities, kids will even come into Fargo to participate in BIO Girls, even if there is a program in their small community because they want the opportunity to meet other kids. We make it an even playing field for all girls that are participating. We separate as much as we can upfront, we can see if their neighbors, we separate them into different small groups. If they're sisters, if they're cousins, we separate. If mom's a mentor, mom is not in charge of daughter’s small group, and so everybody comes in, meeting new friends, getting to know new people. Maybe they're in the same classroom at school, but they have never really engaged or their circles don't overlap, they do at BIO Girls. And so you start to see friendships forming between girls where it probably wouldn’t have otherwise. So that connection not only with adults in the community through the mentoring, but also with other kids in the community. My own daughter, who's now a junior, she knows kids from almost every school in town, in Kindred, in Northern Cass because of BIO Girls. At their events, it's always fun to reconnect and say hello to former BIO Girls now five years later. But I think of the staggering rates are of suicide and loneliness and depression, and if you have community, if you have people that are at your track meet that are cheering for you and not necessarily on your team, that's community, people care about you. And when you are in these positions of vulnerability to know that you can reach out to someone and share your feelings and be vulnerable. And learn that at a young age, everything that you're saying, Missy, I'm like, gosh, there should be an adult program for this, but then in my mind, I'm like, oh, well, you need to be a mentor then 'cause you learn through...

0:29:37.2 S2: And like you said, every time we serve, it actually feels selfish because we get so much out of serving, right? Yeah, it comes back threefold, that's for sure.

0:29:47.3 S1: Yeah, I will say, you know, the connection piece, we all just crave belonging. Yes.

0:29:55.9 S2: For some kids, they find it on the hockey rink, for others, they find it theater. I could list a number of girls who have found that connection or that place of belonging that's BIO Girls. And they have the opportunity, and do come back year after year. I think that's the other thing too, that's important to mention about our curriculum is we do have three years of curriculum, so it is different over the course of three years. And then we have girls that participate all five years. And between second and sixth grade, by the time they repeat in fifth grade, if they started in second grade, they're taking something very different from the lessons from the program in fifth grade than they did in second grade. So we do see a number of repeaters, we even see girls that go through the program three times in one calendar year. It's the same lessons all three times, but their parents find it that important that they're signing them up three times for the program. That is so cool.

0:31:01.9 S1: I know from a young girl that's in Casselton…

0:31:07.0 S2: Her mom was telling me that prior to BIO Girls, she was very withdrawn and she has ADHD, which from being diagnosed at fourth grade, she felt very alone and that she got into BIO Girls and not only was she able to, she said that she was able to feel like herself. And then she picked up the sport of... She's running back her energy out, so then she could calm her mind and her spirit. And then she picked up on swimming now, so then she has a winter sport of swimming. So from this little girl, and she's the oldest in the family, she has three younger brothers, and she said it's just completely changed the family dynamic and her life. I'm gonna get teary 'cause I think you're totally changing... You're changing families. She's so grateful.

0:32:06.7 S2: I'm so proud of you because it is not easy to run a business, let alone a 501(c)(3), and then you have your own family and employees, and then manage these events. Event management is just a whole other level. And then you're teaching, you have curriculum and you’re teaching at the same time. So this is quite an impressive operation, Missy, congratulations to you, and more importantly to the communities and young women that you serve, that's just exciting. Well, thank you, I appreciate it. And you know, it was never my intention or even my dream when I started BIO Girls. We weren’t a 501(c)(3) until 2015, we didn't have employees until 2018, and even then it was myself and one part-time person, and so it was never my intention that BIO Girls would be what it became, but being a person of faith, it was in 2017 that I realized that this wasn't Missy’s thing, this was God's plan, and I was just the chosen one to make it happen. And along the way, God has opened so many doors for BIO Girls, for me personally, for BIO Girls and really... He knew long before the pandemic came that this was gonna be vital to the mental wellness of our kids moving forward, and so I feel very honored to be the leader of BIO Girls, and I honestly, most days, pinch myself on my way to work thinking that this is actually what I get to do day in and day out. And I say it all the time, and I'm gonna get teary-eyed, the people that make it happen. My co-workers, my colleagues on a daily basis are the most passionate, smart, committed group of women that I could have ever asked for.

0:34:14.6 S2: And it's just a pleasure to see all of their success and ideas come to life. It just truly is fun most days. Of course every job has its moments, and I just got done with our annual audit, which is not fun.

0:34:34.9 S1: A necessary evil when you're in the nonprofit world and there's things, but it really... It's fun to hear the stories 'cause we only hear the stories we hear, so it's fun to hear you as someone who's an advocate and supporter for BIO Girls. But I haven't heard that story of the girl and Casselton, so it's really fun to hear that.  

0:35:01.1 S2: The other thing is that we always say we make little changes in girls, it's not like a girl is completely different from the first to last week, but it's those little changes that make a big impact. And so it's just fun to hear those stories.

0:35:19.2 S1: And this is like a highlight of my absolute year, talking with you, Missy. I am so glad to have met you. I'm so excited 'cause Lilly, I was sad because she's in sixth grade and can she participate? How can we continue forward? So I'm really excited about the teen program and got to sign her up for this next program in the spring with her little friend Elise. So I just wanna say to any business owner, any individual, we're nearing the end of the year, and I hope that this... I'm trying to think…

0:35:58.6 S2: This probably will not air by the end of the year, BIO Girls is an excellent organization to support.

0:36:08.4 S1: If you have a heart for philanthropy and you have a heart for changing generations of young girls, support the business through a marketing effort, support the business through donations, through your time. What are some other ways that if someone feels called to volunteer to help, what are some ways that they can do that, Missy?

0:36:29.2 S2: Yeah, so we've talked about leading a site, we've talked about mentoring, so we are always in need of both of those volunteer positions, but we have committees that help us throughout the year that are less of a commitment. Committees that help with our fundraising efforts, which are really vital to the longevity of our organization. We have a marketing committee, so if that's your strong suit, we'd love to hear from you. We also have our Program Advisory Committee, so if you are a therapist, a doctor, an educator, a counselor, somebody that works with children on a daily basis, and you feel like you could provide your skill set to help us ensure that our program continues to make that change in kids, we'd love to get you involved in that way. And then easy volunteer opportunities, just a couple hours here and there, we always have them listed on our website and we always have a need. As I mentioned, we will have 100 program locations this next year, we pack and ship 100 totes of supplies out to our program leaders, and so we always need loving hands and hearts to put those together. We always have our 5K race that you mentioned Patty, is in May, we’ll need 90 volunteers for that, so that's an excellent way for businesses to help support BIO Girls. Come on out and bring a team of 10 to volunteer at the race. So there's really...

0:38:05.9 S2: Year-round opportunity to volunteer at BIO Girls all on our website. Just under the Volunteer tab.

0:38:12.4 S1: Amazing. Well, thank you for everything that you're doing, Missy, I wish you all of the best. And I'm really excited to know you now, and feel even closer to the organization so I can do more.

0:38:26.7 S2: Because this is the most important thing, I think women from a standpoint of healthcare and what we do for our families as nurturers. And a lot of us are providers, and we take care of our parents and our kids and ourselves, and to raise the next generation to be healthy and to know that they are valued and loved, so important. And thank you, women lifting other women up and you're giving me that opportunity today through the podcast, so thank you for that and for your continued support of BIO Girls. I truly am grateful for your support for the race and just your advocacy throughout the year.

0:39:08.4 S1: Appreciate it. You bet, Missy. Well, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. This was absolutely phenomenal. So find BIO Girls, and on the Checkable Health, you can find us at Checkable Health at any of the social channels, and we will be... You could go back in May and look at our fun social post, our stories that we did about our time that we volunteered at the BIO Girls 5K that was really fun. And to know more, you can go to Biogirls.org and support the organization and to learn more. With that, thank you so much, Missy. I appreciate it. Have a Merry Christmas. Thank you, you too. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Checkable Health Podcast. If you want more information, head over to checkablehealth.com for show notes, links and resources mentioned in today's podcast. Please hit subscribe on your favorite podcast platform to get all of the Checkable Health at-home  healthcare details as soon as they're released. Find us on every social channel at Checkable Health. Cheers to living your healthiest and happiest life.