There’s been plenty of exciting news coming from the Timberwolves and Lynx franchises of late and that continued on Monday.
It was announced that the Timberwolves and Lynx, along with T-Wolves Gaming and the Iowa Wolves, have launched an entirely new community impact platform called Pack Gives Back.
There’s been a lot of focus (and deservedly so), on the Timberwolves' new culture, the Lynx making a strong run to the playoffs, T-Wolves Gaming winning a title in its first season, and the work the Iowa Wolves are doing.
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But this is a focus on giving back off the court. This is something the organizations have always done, but this is a new focus of doing it all as one.
For the first time, it will bring the four franchises together in community initiatives with a singular focus. With that, it will still include the FastBreak Foundation and corporate partner community initiatives, but it will be an overarching and all-embracing focus from the entire organization.
“It’s an amazing opportunity to leverage our players and professional platform to elevate our franchises and social platform in supporting our community,” said Vice President of Social Responsibility Jennifer Ridgeway. “This is an instrumental time for the organization as it’s the first time in our 30-year history that we introduce a new structure that unifies the work of all four of our franchises, our foundation, community relations, social responsibility, player initiatives, and our employee volunteer program.”
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As part of this, the FastBreak Foundation will transition from a private to a public organization. This allows for flexibility to connect with fans and community efforts. There will be more formal details announced later this fall.
As part of the Pack Gives Back campaign, the “Drive to Five” goal includes:
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 appearances
Something that is especially unique, even for a team that has been very innovative as of late thanks to the leadership of CEO Ethan Casson, is a new Employee Volunteer Program.
The program will provide an additional 16 hours of Volunteer Time Off to employees so they can give back to a cause that’s important to them with the support of the organization and not be required to take standard Paid Time Off.
There will be more details in the future, but this is a huge step for the organization. It’s clear that all four organizations have made it a huge priority to give back to the community, now they get to do so together.