Minnesota Timberwolves and Sister Franchises Announce New Social Responsibility Platform Pack Gives Back

Minneapolis/St. Paul – The Minnesota Timberwolves announced the launch of an entirely new community impact platform called Pack Gives Back. This is the most significant overhaul of the team’s community programs since the team was acquired by Mr. Taylor in 1994.  This campaign will, for the first time, unite the power of the organization’s four franchises: the Timberwolves, Lynx, T-Wolves Gaming and Iowa Wolves. In addition to the franchises, the platform will include the FastBreak Foundation and corporate partners under a single umbrella. “It’s an amazing opportunity to leverage all our teams, players, and partners to support our community and drive successful outcomes,” said Timberwolves and Lynx Vice President of Social Responsibility Jennifer Ridgeway. “This is a unique effort that allows us to engage fans from all four teams and unify them with the efforts of our employees, partners, players and foundation.  Due to the nature of our teams’ seasons, this structure will provide support in our identified focus areas 365 days a year and we are excited for this organizational-wide effort and commitment."The Pack Gives Back campaign includes five-year goals for the organization that include:1. $5 million dollars distributed via monetary & in-kind donations 2. 500,000 Minnesota youth & families impacted 3. 15,000 volunteer hours 4. 2,500 non-profits served 5. 500 player appearancesAs part of this community program restructuring, the FastBreak Foundation will become the charitable arm for all four franchises and will transition from a private to a public organization which will allow greater flexibility in fan and community partner engagement. As part of this transition, the foundation will also unveil a new grant program later this fall.Another key component of the Pack Gives Back platform is an increased commitment of team employee volunteerism efforts. The organization already offers several all-staff employee community service days and an employee-match program. Under the new campaign, the organization is introducing a new Employee Volunteer Program that will provide an additional 16 hours of Volunteer Time Off (VTO) to all employees to be used towards a charity of their choice that drives meaningful impact in the areas of Education, Inclusion and Wellness.About Pack Gives BackPack Gives Back is the social responsibility platform for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Lynx, T-Wolves Gaming and Iowa Wolves. The platform encompasses all the franchises’ efforts surrounding social and community impact inclusive of the organization’s employees, partners, players, and the FastBreak Foundation. Pack Gives Back initiatives will center around education, inclusion and wellness, and will support its communities 365 days a year with the crossover of  NBA, WNBA, NBA2K League and G-League seasons.