National Truck Protection Co. Inc Announces Sponsorship of Big Man Big Heart Charity for College Athletes to Leverage NCAA NIL Program
Winston Salem, NC – National Truck Protection Co. Inc. announced its sponsorship of Big Man Big Heart (BMBH), a 501c-3 non-profit organization started by current Florida State and former Notre Dame offensive lineman Dillan Gibbons in 2021. Big Man Big Heart was born out of Dillan’s desire to leverage the new NCAA NIL program that allows college athletes to monetize their name, image, and likeness (NIL). His idea was to start a program that could be a template for any college athlete to follow that promotes unity, positivity, and kindness in their community and beyond.
“This opportunity was truly conceived and developed because of a wonderful relationship I built with a young fan I met when I was at Notre Dame,” said Dillan, CEO of Big Man Big Heart. “After graduating from Notre Dame, I enrolled at Florida State to finish my football eligibility and earn my MBA. My idea continued to grow, and we launched our mission the weekend of my first football game at FSU.” Dillan’s mission was to bring his super fan friend he met at Notre Dame in 2017, Timothy Donavan, to Tallahassee for FSU’s opener whose opponent was magically, Notre Dame. Timothy is a 19-year-old from Dayton, OH, and has been physically handicapped since he was born. His friendship with Dillan started when Dillan gave Timothy his pair of football gloves after a game. “The timing of our first event was unbelievable. I knew Big Man Big Heart was what I was supposed to be doing,” added the 6’5”, 312-pound red-bearded lineman.
After receiving his 501c-3 status, Dillan started a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay the expenses for Timothy and his family to make the weekend trip from Dayton to Tallahassee. To his amazement, the “Take Timothy to Tally” campaign raised $30,000 in 23 hours.
“When I read about Dillan’s effort, I knew this was something our company wanted to support,” said Wade Bontrager, CEO of National Truck Protection, and Florida State University graduate. “This is an exciting opportunity for NTP to expand our support of local community efforts and, to be involved in this unique way for college athletes to positively impact the communities where they live through the new NCAA NIL program.”
NTP’s support will go directly to hiring a full-year intern who will help develop new opportunities to do good in the community as well as help other college athletes leverage the Big Man Big Heart format to start their own programs. NTP is also developing a program to involve their national used truck dealer partners to participate by contributing a portion of each commercial truck warranty sold to Big Man Big Heart.
About National Truck Protection Co. Inc.
National Truck Protection Co Inc. is the proud parent company of North America’s two largest and oldest aftermarket commercial truck warranty brands: National Truck Protection (NTP®) and Premium 2000+®. Both brands offer a variety of programs that cover major equipment on Class 3 – 8 vehicles like engines, turbo’s, aftertreatment, water pumps, transmission, and more. NTP and Premium 2000+ warranties are primarily sold through used truck dealer locations including major OEM, independent and rental truck dealerships. Customer warranty programs have also been developed for expanded channels, including finance companies, insurance agencies and fleet programs.
National Truck Protection Co. Inc. is owned by Kinderhook Industries, a private equity firm out of New York, NY. Kinderhook acquired the NTP brand in 2015 and the Premium 2000+ brand in 2018. NTP headquarters are in Winston Salem, NC. For more information contact Tim Ronan at [email protected] or visit our brand websites: ntpwarranty.com and premium2000.com
About Big Man Big Heart
Big Man Big Heart, Inc. is a 501c-3 non-profit started in 2021. Its mission is to promote NCAA college athletes’ use of their NIL to do good and promote unity, positivity and kindness in their community and beyond. Athletes in the BMBH program will receive guidance for planning and implementing their campaigns in the college and hometown communities, social media support, and a fundraising platform provided through GoFundMe. For more information go to bigmanbigheart.com. Watch special ESPN 2 video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxu1Ec9N0Q4.