Dwight Howard has been named the March Ace Hardware “Helpful Player of the Month” for his willingness to give back to the community.

Howard has been active in the community in the recent weeks, calling a reading timeout to celebrate literacy with 81 Ventura Elementary School students and their families on Friday, Feb. 29 at a Scholastic Book Fairs and NBA Read to Achieve event.

In addition to honoring the school’s top readers, Howard spoke about the importance of reading and participated in a Q&A session with the students.

Howard, along with Carlos Arroyo and James Augustine, also helped the Magic and KaBOOM! build a playground on Mar. 7 at the Santa Barbara Apartments in Winter Park.

The new playground will provide hundreds of children from the Santa Barbara Apartments and the surrounding Winter Park community with a safe place to play.

The play space is the second built by KaBOOM! and the Magic and one of more than 225 KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2008 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

Ace Hardware, in conjunction with the Orlando Magic, will honor one Magic player each month during the 2007-08 season as the Ace Hardware “Helpful Player of the Month.” Each selection will be based on their dedication to the Central Florida community and will exemplify Ace’s vision as “The Helpful Place.”

About Ace Hardware
Throughout its 80-year history, Ace Hardware has been known as the helpful hardware store by both customers and communities. In 2007, Ace Hardware was ranked the “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Major Home Improvement Retail Stores” by J.D. Power and Associates in its inaugural study of the retail home improvement industry. With 4,600 hardware, home center and building materials stores that generate annual retail sales of more than $12 billion, Ace is the largest retailer-owned hardware cooperative in the industry. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., Ace currently operates 14 distribution centers in the U.S. and a warehouse in Shanghai, China, and its retailers’ stores are located in all 50 states and 60 countries. More information about Ace can be found at www.acehardware.com.