Bison Nike leftovers turning into charitable gold for Thielen Foundation – InForum

FARGO — The phasing out of Nike gear and apparel for North Dakota State athletes is not leaving without some charitable work tied to it. Thanks to a West Fargo couple, the leftovers like athletic shoes will turn into a main course for those in need.

The Bison athletic department is switching from Nike to Under Armour, meaning last weekend’s annual NDSU rummage sale during the “Green & Gold Showcase” football event at the Fargodome was stocked with more gear than ever. Not all of it sold, with the likes of around 400 pairs of shoes and 10 boxes of shirts remaining.

What to do? Derrick and Kristen Dinger had an idea.

Find a way to get it to people who perhaps can’t afford it. The couple bought the remaining stock of NDSU Nike items and will donate them to the Thielen Foundation, the charitable arm of former Minnesota Vikings receiver and Detroit Lakes High School graduate Adam Thielen, currently playing for the Carolina Panthers.

The idea came from Derrick, managing partner of Northwestern Mutual in Fargo, who is on the Thielen Foundation Board of Directors. Dinger initially started in the Fargo-Moorhead area with a plan to donate 15-20 shoes to each school on behalf of the Thielen Foundation, and then hand the rest over to the organization.

“He’s a champion of youth sports and it just means a lot to us he goes the extra mile to locate those equipment pieces and donate them back,” said Amy Sinclair, executive director of the Thielen Foundation. “It means the world to us to have people come along with us and support us in that way.”

The idea first hit Derrick last year, when bought a few pairs of shoes at last year’s Bison sale and saw first hand the benefit in West Fargo.

“We bought them to help people out so kids can have opportunities,” he said. “And they were so appreciative and it made me realize how many people are maybe a little less fortunate.”

At the time, Derrick saw that Thielen had a contract with a major manufacturer that distributed items to Minneapolis schools.

“But I didn’t want to go buy a bunch of shoes, have them sit in our house and not know what to do with them after you give them to the local schools,” he said.

That’s where the Thielen Foundation came into play with distribution. The Foundation, on the heels of two Thielen youth football camps this June in Detroit Lakes, will through Detroit Lakes High School invite 40 area head high school coaches to pick up cleats for players that need them.

“That will be able to serve them and maybe ease some financial tension in their program a little bit,” Sinclair said.

John Autey / St. Paul Pioneer Press

That easing of financial tension will also reach Minneapolis schools, where the Thielen Foundation supports inner city youth football leagues. That includes giving away a boat load of NDSU T-shirts and sweatshirts.

“It can’t do any harm having 1,000 NDSU shirts walking around in Minneapolis to the kids that need the help,” Dinger said.

The Thielen Foundation has raised more than $4 million since 2018 with a goal on its website to “serve, educate and inspire individuals so they’re equipped and empowered to reach their full potential in life.”

“And part of that is keeping them in sports and committed because you can learn so many of life’s lessons from the platform of sports,” Sinclair said. “So if we can provide programs and resources to help make that easier, that’s amazing to us.”

Jeff would like to dispel the notion he was around when Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press, but he is on his third decade of reporting with Forum Communications. The son of a reporter and an English teacher, and the brother of a reporter, Jeff has worked at the Jamestown Sun, Bismarck Tribune and since 1990 The Forum, where he’s covered North Dakota State athletics since 1995.
Jeff has covered all nine of NDSU’s Division I FCS national football titles and has written three books: “Horns Up,” “North Dakota Tough” and “Covid Kids.” He is the radio host of “The Golf Show with Jeff Kolpack” April through August.