The Ridenhour family from left, Mack, Drew, Molly and Wade.

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Last Thursday, June 26, Molly Ridenhour was excited to see her community come together to bolster the RISE Community Fund with its first ever RISE Golf for Good at Tanglewood Park. When the doors of RISE opened 4 years ago, the mission was to lift the community through sport, creating positive change through sports and wellness, something that Ridenhour was passionate about. 

Growing up in a family that emphasized hard work and community involvement and were also small business owners themselves, Ridenhour has always believed you can accomplish a lot more when everyone works together.

“When my husband, Drew and I had our first son, Mack (now 16) I had stopped working for our family business which we had sold to wonderful new owners. I was fortunate to come across an opportunity with ‘DavieLiFE Magazine’ which allowed me to still see so many people in our community, and also help small businesses connect,” said Ridenhour. “I continue to enjoy the community involvement and connection that my work with the magazine affords.”

As her involvement with DavieLiFE evolved, so did their family, as son, Wade (now almost 14) came along a couple of years later.

“It was a great balance of family and work, and it allowed me to have a flexible schedule,” said Ridenhour.

When the opportunity presented itself at RISE, Ridenhour was excited to expand on what she was already doing with making the community aware of opportunities that could benefit them both physically and mentally. 

Aside from all of their sports programs at RISE like volleyball, basketball and soccer to name a few, they have a sports performance gym, cardio fitness center and senior programming, truly offering something for every age and level. 

“And because the demand for more resources in our community is so great, I’m excited that RISE Indoor Sports will also be launching the NC RISE Performance Academy in August. For student-athletes that need a comprehensive, yet flexible, experience of personalized education, mentorship and expert coaching across multiple sports in state-of-the-art facilities, this will be where they can turn. We have a lot of exceptional student-athletes in our extended community, and we realized there was a real need to allow more flexibility without having to sacrifice education and training. For many families that had to get their kids to training after a long day of class, it was grueling, and took away from family time,” said Ridenhour. 

On average, a typical week would include 20-plus hours of academic work and eight-plus hours of training at the NC RISE Performance Academy.

Identifying a need, and filling the void is what Ridenhour thinks makes RISE different.

“Seeing how many people turned out and supported our first RISE Community Fund charity event at Tanglewood was rewarding. People come from surrounding counties to participate at RISE and in their programs, and we want to make sure that if someone has an interest in a program, that finances aren’t the reason they are unable to participate,” said Ridenhour. 

The impact has been felt already with youth sports scholarships through the RISE Community Fund.

“Team dues, training, memberships, tournament fees and travel adds up quickly. More than 100 athletes and numerous individuals and families have received financial assistance so that they can access the facility at a reduced rate or no cost, and we hope to assist many more this year,” said Ridenhour. “The support RISE received through this past week’s Golf for Good will allow RISE to assist many more athletes and families this year, furthering the mission.” 

As a mother of two teenagers herself that are very active in sports, Ridenhour recognizes that while sports are great physically, there are many other benefits too.

“It provides endorphins, encourages academic success and keeps kids occupied with healthy alternatives. And for our senior citizens, it also reduces the risk of chronic disease, improves cognitive health and increases life expectancy. It’s so great to be a part of the mission and see change in our community,” said Ridenhour. 

Ridenhour added that “What really keeps us going is the great feedback we’ve received from those who have benefited from the RISE Community Fund. When you hear stories about what it does for them it really inspires you to want to raise more to provide additional opportunities.” 

And if Ridenhour isn’t helping small businesses connect at DavieLiFE or working with RISE on their community outreach, she can often be found spending time with her family or attending one of their extracurricular activities.

“They are both going to be at Davie High School next year which will be fun, but I also know this time is going to fly by and I want to take it all in and enjoy the journey,” said Ridenhour.