A Running Start, West Reading, and Janji, a new socially conscious running brand based in Brookline, Mass., will be teaming up to release three new apparel lines emphasizing humanitarian aid in Bangladesh, Rwanda and Tanzania. This adds to a catalog that, in less than one year, provided over 16,000 servings of nutritional medicine to Haiti and 2,000 seasons worth of water to Kenya.
How did the effortand clothing line get its start you ask? On the bus to the 2010 Division III Track and Field Championships, Mike Burnstein and Dave Spandorfer, recent college graduates and cross country teammates, came up with the idea of improving the food and water crisis by leveraging the help of the running community.
People are always running for a cause; whether that’s running a 5k for diabetes, walking for hunger relief, or jogging against cancer. Appreciating runners’ fondness for charity, Mike and Dave started Janji less than a year ago in order to bring about real social change to those who need it most.
A Running Start, a locally owned and operated running store, was an early supporter of Janji, “Its for a good cause and the designs and colors [of the products] are different than any of the other apparel,” says Alicia Kofke, an assistant manager at A Running Start. “And it goes with the population of runners. It’s always nice to run for a cause.”
Purchasing the apparel is a pretty easy way to play the part of global citizen right from the trail, track or road! The design of Janji’s shorts and shirts are based on the flags of the countries that the apparel benefits. The previously released Haiti and Kenya lines have been a hit, bringing safe water to families in Kenya and bringing thousands of nutrition packets to children in Haiti.
Donations from the Bangladesh line sales go to Helen Keller International to provide families’crop seeds; Rwanda’s donations go to MANA, which produces medicine to treat childhood malnutrition, and Tanzania’s donations go to MSABI to provide accessible, safe drinking water.
Visit runjanji.com to learn more and start to “Run for Another.”
