In 2023, the fifth annual Girls on the Run of the Greater Piedmont Rhylee Fielding Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to two girls in the amount of $3,000 each. Application deadline for the scholarship is March 17.

Recipients will be notified by the week of April 17 and will be invited to the Girls on the Run 5K on Saturday, April 29, 2023. The recipients of 2023 will be presented by Richard Fielding (husband to Rhylee) and their daughters and celebrated by the community of Girls on the Run supporters.

Eligibility criteria: Any girl who participated in Girls on the Run (grades 3-5) or Girls on Track (now Heart & Sole grades 6-8) in Forsyth, Iredell or Rowan counties and who will enter college in the fall of 2023 is eligible to apply.

Scholarship guidelines and application can be found at: https://runsignup.com/TicketEvent/RhyleeFieldingMemorialScholarshipApplication2023 

This scholarship program is named after Rhylee Fielding, who over 10 years ago worked with Woodland Heights Elementary to launch the Girls on the Run program there. With a passion for fitness and female leadership, Rhylee dedicated her time to inspire her daughters and their peers to be joyful, healthy and confident.

“In 2017, we were deeply saddened when Rhylee lost her battle with cancer. We created this scholarship to honor her and award to alumni who have followed in her footsteps to serve as a role model in our community,” says a press release on the scholarship.

Founded in 1996 with only 13 girls, Girls on the Run is now an international nonprofit organization that has served more than two million girls. Girls on the Run hosts more than 330 5Ks per year, making it the largest 5K series, by number of events, in the world. Girls on the Run is included as a top research-based program in a Social-Emotional Learning Guide developed by researchers at Harvard University and has been recognized by the National After-school Association (NAA) as one of the most influential after-school programs in the country. For more information about how to get involved in your community, go to www.girlsontherun.org.