For all his importance to the Los Angeles Dodgers since signing with the team in 2014, Justin Turner and his wife Kourtney have made an impact in the local community. Turner makes regular appearances with the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and through his Justin Turner Foundation.
Turner’s foundation aims to provide for veterans and children who are in need. Their work is completed through the annual Justin Turner Golf Classic, which will host its fourth event on Monday, Jan. 28, and in partnership with The Dream Center.
Turner and Kourtney have also made a point to visit children in local hospitals, particularly during the holidays in effort to lift spirits.
They come bearing gifts, which Turner revealed amounted to providing children with tickets to Disneyland for Christmas, via AM 570 L.A. Sports Radio:
“We also spent time in the hospitals, visiting kids with different illnesses and diseases. Just trying to shine a light on them and raise their spirits, keep them thinking positive and give them good stories to tell. It was a good year. We visited the kids in three different hospitals in L.A.: Mattel, Cedar’s and CHLA, and presented the kids with some tickets to Disneyland. So they’re going to get to take their families and some friends and spend a day at Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth.”
While the generosity of the Turners makes for lasting memories, they are humbled and genuinely appreciative of being able to provide for others:
“It’s always something we look forward to doing. Most of these kids don’t know anything other than spending all their time in a hospital. They were diagnosed at such a young age and going through difficult times, that they honestly don’t even know anything different/ They don’t even know what it’s like to have a normal childhood. To go in there and try to put a smile on their face and give them something to look forward to with the tickets to Disneyland, to keep them positive, keep them fighting, keep them motivated, is a small token of what we can do with our time. It’s something we look forward to every year and try to make it bigger and better every year.”
Ahead of hosting his fourth annual golf classic, Turner is among the athletes and celebrities set to participate in the California Strong Celebrity Softball Game on Sunday. The event is being held to raise money for those impacted by the mass shooting in Thousand Oaks and Southern California wildfires.
Turner and Kourtney previously delivered clothing and supplies to wildfire relief efforts.
