Wolves in the Community

The Iowa Wolves, the NBA G League franchise of the Minnesota Timberwolves, are active members in the Greater Des Moines and central Iowa community. The Iowa Wolves organization is proud to be a part of the Timberwolves’ Pack Gives Back, which is the social responsibility platform for the Timberwolves, Minnesota Lynx, T-Wolves Gaming, and 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 support its communities 365 days a year with the crossover of NBA, WNBA, NBA2K League and G-League seasons.

After nearly 21 months of not having Wolves games at Wells Fargo Arena due to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Iowa organization hit the ground running for the 2021-22 season by partnering with multiple companies and organizations creating community driven initiatives and programs that help educate, impact, and support many different demographics, groups, and non-profits.

One of those programs started in 2021 is the Iowa Wolves Read to Achieve program which was created in partnership with Athene. Read to Achieve is a free literacy program campaign created by the Iowa Wolves and Athene to help children across Iowa develop a lifelong love of reading and to encourage adults to read regularly with them.

Students track their own reading time in school or at home and report their progress to their teachers. Students who read 500 or more minutes during a six-week timeframe are rewarded with an Iowa Wolves and Athene prize pack. The prize pack includes free tickets to an Iowa Wolves game and additional prizes. The Wolves and Athene have helped reward thousands of students for reaching their reading goals.

Also in 2021, the Iowa Wolves joined forces with the YMCA of Greater Des Moines and created a new teen basketball league for the local metro area. In its two years, the Iowa Wolves Metro League allowed hundreds of area high schoolers, who are not part of their high school basketball programs the opportunity to continue playing basketball. With the help of the Wolves financial support, participants from across central Iowa pay a low participation fee and are provided a game jersey and a ten-week regular season with playoffs at the John R. Grubb Community YMCA.

For the 2021-22 season, the Iowa Wolves along with Principal® and ArtForce Iowa collaborated to create and present unique player jerseys in celebration of the many diverse communities in central Iowa. The initial creation and design of the jerseys in 2021-22 was led by ArtForce Iowa, a local non-profit whose mission is to create opportunities through art for youth living on the margins.

The community celebration jerseys designed by ArtForce Iowa youth debuted in February 2021 promoting Black History Month. In addition, jerseys were created for Asian American Pacific Islander Celebration Night, Women’s History Celebration Night, Hispanic Heritage Celebration Night, LGBTQ+ PRIDE Night and Mental Health Awareness Night. An ensuing jersey auction was held after each night to benefit local non-profits. In total, the program raised over $15,000 for local non-profits in its first year. In its second year during the 2022-23 season of the partnership with Principal®, a Disability Empowerment Night was added. In addition several local organizations and their artists joined ArtForce Iowa in helping the Wolves create and present unique player jerseys in celebration of the many diverse communities in Iowa with an ensuing jersey auction to benefit local non-profits.

The Iowa Wolves and these partners will continue to work together to offer these impactful initiative and programs for the central Iowa community. If you would like more information please contact info@iawolves.com.