By Mark Stevens, NDS President
Over the past 40 years of our company history, Northern Data Systems (NDS) has supported many local organizations and nonprofits. As a company we have placed our charitable emphasis on local Maine based organizations whenever we can so that we can see the direct benefits of our involvement. By focusing on local, the NDS staff can become directly involved in the organization as well as make financial contributions. One of the many local organizations that NDS supports is Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation.
NDS continues to be a primary sponsor of Maine Adaptive, which has become one of New England’s largest providers of year-round adaptive recreational sports for athletes with physical disabilities. Today, Maine Adaptive services over 1,200 participants from all over the Unites States and Canada. In addition, there are specialty camps specifically for veterans and their families. The activities range from skiing (Alpine and Nordic), snowboarding and snow shoeing in the winter, to golf, tennis, cycling and paddling in the summer.
What TRULY separates Maine Adaptive from other disabled sports programs is that all of the programs are free to participants. You read that right, there is no cost to participate in these programs. No cost to the participant, means that the money to run the program has to be generated through donations, and lots of them. This year, NDS will once again be a major sponsor of the 31 st Annual Maine Adaptive Ski-a- thon. The Ski-a- thon generates over $350,000 in revenue and continues to be one of the largest single day fund raisers in the State of Maine. NDS has been a primary sponsor in all 31 of the past Ski-a- thons and we continue to support the Ski-a- thon and Maine Adaptive through staff involvement, in-kind services and data processing assistance.
If you would like to learn more about Maine Adaptive Sports and Recreation, please watch this video or, if you know someone who would benefit from the types of recreational activities that Maine Adaptive provides, please visit http://www.maineadaptive.org/.