MINNEAPOLIS/ST. PAUL For the month of March, the Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation will turn its focus towards helping children develop a lifelong love of reading. The Foundation's Read to Achieve Month, presented by Hennepin County Medical Center and Travelers, is designed to put books in the hands of children and offer them incentives to keep reading. The March schedule of events is highlighted by a staff-wide effort on the part of all Timberwolves employees to read to students in the Twin Cities area. Read to Achieve Month will also feature a $5,000 grant presentation and additional reading events.

"A love for reading is one of the most important gifts we can give to a child," Timberwolves President Chris Wright said. "So we're excited to have our Foundation and staff engaged in all the wonderful events and activities surrounding Read to Achieve Month."

Read to Achieve Month will tip off tonight during the Wolves/Clippers game when the FastBreak Foundation will award a $5,000 grant to Hennepin Health Foundation of Hennepin County Medical Center.

The Hennepin Health Foundation exists to guide and encourage those in the community who wish to support the mission of Hennepin County Medical Center: to provide the best possible care to every patient, search for new ways to improve care, educate healthcare providers, and ensure access to healthcare for all. One function of the Hennepin Health Foundation is to get appropriate books to children who would not usually have access to these reading materials. Funding from the FastBreak Foundation will be used to purchase new, age appropriate, language and culture appropriate books that would be distributed in the hospital.

On March 22, members of the Timberwolves/Lynx staff will read at local elementary schools. The goal of the staff-wide reading campaign is to commit more than 120 volunteer hours to the program while reaching more than 3,000 students. Each classroom the Wolves/Lynx employees visit will receive books and various prizes.

The Timberwolves game vs. Denver on March 25 (2:30 p.m. tip) has been designated as Read to Achieve Night, as the Wolves will welcome thousands of young readers to Target Center. All students who completed the Wolves' Starting Five reading incentive program will receive free tickets to this game, and the top-three overall readers and top classroom in terms of pages read will be recognized in an on-court presentation.

In addition to the staff reading initiative, a Wolves player and broadcaster will read to children at the FastBreak Foundation's Reading Time-Out Bash, presented by Hennepin County Medical Center and Travelers, on March 29 at a Twin Cities elementary school.

Read to Achieve is the Timberwolves and the NBAs year-round literacy program that helps young people develop a lifelong love of reading, and encourages adults to read regularly with children. Reaching an estimated 50 million children a year, Read to Achieve is the most extensive educational outreach initiative in the history of professional sports.

About Hennepin County Medical Center

Hennepin County Medical Center is a nationally recognized Level 1 Adult Trauma Center and Level 1 Pediatric Trauma Center with the largest emergency department in Minnesota. The comprehensive academic medical center and public teaching hospital includes a 469-bed acute care hospital and primary care and specialty clinics located in downtown Minneapolis, five primary care clinics in Brooklyn Center, Brooklyn Park, Richfield and South Minneapolis, and retail clinics in Bloomington and Eden Prairie. For the fourteenth year in a row, Hennepin County Medical Center is listed in the U.S. News & World Report rankings of the top U.S. Hospitals in its annual Americas Best Hospitals report.

About Travelers

The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV) is a leading property casualty insurer selling primarily through independent agents and brokers. The company's diverse business lines offer its global customers a wide range of coverage in the auto, home and business settings. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, Travelers has more than 30,000 employees and generated revenues of approximately $25 billion in 2010. For more information, visit www.travelers.com.

About the FastBreak Foundation

The Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation provides and supports hands-on programs that positively impact Minnesota youth. Through giving, education and basketball opportunities, the Foundation enables young people to make responsible decisions, contribute to their futures, and experience lifelong memories. In the past year, the Minnesota Timberwolves FastBreak Foundation and the Minnesota Lynx Foundation have combined to impact 1,852 organizations with $820,427 in in-kind donations, 60,000 Tickets for Kids donations, 1,942 volunteer hours, 35 Heroes in the Making on-court presentations, eight $10,000 grants and five $2,000 scholarships to high school students.

Contact information:

Mike Cristaldi, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-8405, cristaldi@timberwolves.com

Aaron Seehusen, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1602, seehusen@timberwolves.com

Dan Bell, Minnesota Timberwolves, (612) 673-1603, bell@timberwolves.com

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