Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — For those of you who will brave the heat on Sunday morning to participate in Justin Turner’s “Turner Trot” for charity, we salute you. For the rest of us, who will probably be working on our breakfast burritos at that time, we can enjoy the thoughts of Justin and his wife Kourtney from when they dropped by the Bleed Los podcast a few days ago to discuss all things Tuner.
Justin and Kourtney started with a discussion of the genesis of the “Turner Trot,” a 5K run-walk whose proceeds will benefit the Justin Turner Foundation. “Playing in major league baseball with the Mets and the Dodgers, they’ve always done a great job of setting up appearances in hospitals visiting kids different activations around the cities and in communities to kind of get involved and we’ve always really enjoyed doing that and then in 2016, the Dream Center came to us and told us that they were setting up this veterans home this homeless veterans program but they needed to raise money, so we put together this golf tournament and it took off from there.”
After that initial tournament, which raised over $60,000, the couple set up the Justin Turner Foundation whose mission is to support homeless veterans, children (and their families) battling life-altering illnesses and diseases and various youth baseball organizations.
Through their efforts, the Dream Center is able to support and provide housing for 26 male veterans. Following the success of the program, the Turners were able to assist with the opening of the female Veterans programs, which provides housing and support for 18 women. Additionally, since its’ founding, the JTF has provided over 70,000 toys and 14,000 bicycles to children in the Los Angeles area through its’ holiday giving efforts.
As for the Turner Trot, it starts at Dodger Stadium and winds its way through the streets of Los Angeles until it arrives at its destination, the Dream Center near Echo Park. “I just like the journey of Dodger Stadium to the Dream Center,” Kourtney said of the route, “with thousands of supporters taking to the streets and fundraising… we were just talking about how crazy it is that they’re shutting down Sunset Boulevard for our foundation!” There is still time to register, so lace up those sneakers and get to it!
To listen to the interview of Justin and Kourtney in its, entirety, click here. Or, go to bleedlospodcast.com for all past episodes of the show.
