Wolves Honor Heroes Brandon Schrader, Erik Halvorsen and Cody Lindberg
On the eve of Thanksgiving, the Timberwolves organization and its fans celebrated what they were most thankful for during Wednesday night’s game versus the Denver Nuggets.
During the 2nd quarter, three military heroes stepped out onto the court during a break in the action to be honored by the crowd and team members. The packed arena stood and applauded the services of Captain Brandon Schrader, Sergeant Erik Halvorsen and Specialist Cody Lindberg.
Honoring military heroes has been the theme throughout the month of November. The Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation, along with the Roger and Nancy McCabe Foundation and POPP Communications, has been focusing on supporting Minnesota Troops and their families through the Operation: Minnesota Heroes Campaign.
Schrader served with the 934th Airlift Wing of the Minnesota Air National Guard in Afghanistan in 2010. Halvorsen served with the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment of the US Marine Corp in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Lindberg served with the Forward Support Command, 187th Infantry Regiment of the US Army in Afghanistan from September 2012 to March 2013.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” Lindberg said of the experience. “It was amazing,” Halvorsen agreed.
Minnesota Timberwolves President, Chris Wright, along with Roger and Nancy McCabe presented all three men with Nikola Pekovic jerseys.
The three humble heroes all acknowledged they were big fans of the Timberwolves. With Halvorsen adding, “We definitely are now.”
In addition, Joe Bennek, a member of the Minnesotans’ Military Appreciation Fund presented the heroes with a grant from MMAF in honor of their sacrifices for our country.
In the past year, the Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation and the Minnesota Lynx Foundation have combined to impact 2,028 organizations with $750,000 in-kind donations, 60,000 Tickets for Kids donations, 4,226 volunteer hours, 45 Heroes in the Making on-court presentations and fourteen $5,000 grants.