After teaming up with Nolan’s Interstate Transport to help raise money for a cause very close to the hearts of the Nolan family, this Adelaide truckie is stoked with the result.
Jimmy Cresshull, 35, is an interstate driver who works for Neil Mansell Transport. He does the weekly 6200-kilometre round-trip between Adelaide and Darwin.
Earlier this year, he launched his own small business called TruckinRepublic, selling trucking merchandise including a range of t-shirts, caps and other products, celebrating some of the nation’s iconic transport companies.
A recent range of merchandise was centred around Nolan’s eye-catching purple truck and trailer.
Unveiled in May, the new purple Kenworth T610SAR was launched in support of Icon Cancer Foundation.
For Nolan’s there is a very personal connection with Icon. Back in 2014, then-owner of Nolan’s Interstate Transport, Terry Nolan, lost his seven-year battle with renal cell cancer. His son Darren, who took the reins of the business after losing his father, has also battled the same disease.
Both Terry and Darren underwent their cancer treatment at Icon Cancer Foundation.
Jimmy launched his new range of merchandise featuring Nolan’s purple Icon truck at Lights on The Hill in October, with $5 from every item sold to be donated to Icon Cancer Foundation.
The range was on sale for just seven weeks, with 952 items sold, including t-shirts, caps and hoodies. As a result, Jimmy was able to donate $4760 to Icon Cancer Foundation.
“We had 200 t-shirts made up for Lights on The Hill and they pretty much sold out. I came home with about 10. I also took stuff up from previous releases and sold them on the day too, with donations from everything sold there going to Icon,” explained Jimmy, who was thrilled with the final result.
“I’m extremely happy with how it all went. We underestimated the reach this would have. We even had someone purchase one of the t-shirts all the way from Sweden.”
Following the success of this fundraising initiative, Jimmy says he’s hoping to do the same thing with Nolan’s again next year, with a new range of merchandise featuring a different design.