Fair questions. Thanks. My name is Nich Haber. I had success running a business in skills testing, which I sold and no longer am involved in. I am a fitness runner and a fan of the sport.
On my board is Bob Rothenberg, who is the retired t&f coach at Brown and Dr. Susan Donahue who is well connected in the chiropractic and Physical therapy industry in southern New England.
We all met through the Ronald McDonald House of Providence Running Club which now has over 200 members. We decided to make NE Distance completely different from our fitness club as it stretched the mission of the House too much.
In the Running community, this seems like a new way of working. Personally, I find the idea of having a sports team as a not-for-profit seems crazy, as sports is one of the largest industries in this country, but alas that is the state of our sport. We are basing NE Distance on two local successful models in our community.
Community MusicWorks is a resident string quartet and fellowship for string players in Providence that is now in its 15th year. This is a string quartet fellowship that provides music education for at risk youth in Greater Providence. I am friends with these folks.
NeighborWorks Blackstone Valley has been successful bringing in community builders in residence and we are leaning heavily on their experience to help us make this program work. They are extremely excited about bringing some good news to Woonsocket.
We are not presenting this as running nirvana. Woonsocket is not Eugene.
We have seen a lot of local top level runners have to leave the area to try and improve. A lot of them had trouble adjusting to different cultures and fell out. We feel that they would have had a better chance to improve if something like NE Distance were available to them closer to home.
We are registered as a not-for-profit in Rhode Island and are currently waiting for our 501(c)3 status from the IRS. Any donations will be considered tax deductible.
Thanks for your interest.