When I started Nine13sports back in 2012, I had a vision of using the bicycle as the ultimate equalizer for the youth in our community. I simply wanted to get Kids Riding Bikes, and eventually, Kids Building Bikes here in Central Indiana.
What I didn’t know was what that vision would look like 13 years later or the incredible community that would step up and work alongside me to build this organization from infancy to being a teenage entity that continues to grow.
Thirteen years is a long time in the world of the nonprofit cycle. Many organizations start, do great work, and sunset their existence in that sort of time window. It is not lost to me that this 13th anniversary that will be celebrated on February 14th, 2025, is a significant one. It is easy to hat-tip the significance tied to our name and logo, but it is even more readily apparent to me that at this age, the community still is engaged with us and assisting with our positive momentum and trajectory.
This organization would not be here without our incredible team, those that are here today and those that have spent time with me before continuing their journey elsewhere. We have found success thanks to the people that choose to work here and, more importantly, the passion they have for our community. The 15 staff members that support our daily operations with both Nine13sports and Nine13 Logistics have the sole focus of making our community just a little bit better every single day.
We have big goals for the year ahead in honor of it being our 13th year:
• Launch a new fundraising campaign designed to create an endowed fund that will provide funding for more than 350 bicycles per year for our Kids Building Bikes students.
• Formally transition our current STEM and Field Trip programs from the beta modeling that they have been undergoing to a part of our core offerings for the community.
• Continue to invest in the Nine13 Depot property that we acquired in late 2023 to include space for peer organizations to call home.
• Expand our program services by launching a Traffic Garden initiative with the expansion of an additional acre of property at the Depot, giving a safe space not just for us to host programs, but for youth, families, and community partners from the immediate neighborhood and all of Central Indiana to utilize as a bicycle-friendly resource.
• Intentionally navigate towards finalizing the development of expanded Nine13 Logistics facilities that allow for an even broader service line that provides opportunities related to fighting food insecurity across Marion County.
They tell me that what I get to do at Nine13sports and Nine13 Logistics is “my job,” but every day I come to work, and it feels like a privilege and a calling.
I would not be here without the support of my incredible family, my staff, the Board of Directors that believe in this organization and our mission, and the incredible partners, funders, companies, philanthropic resources, vendors, and the community that chooses to invest in our work year after year.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for being part of our journey these last 13 years. And I look forward to what the years ahead will continue to create as we work to serve the community.
Tailwinds,
Tom Hanley - Founder and CEO