Philanthropy

In a country that wastes billions of pounds of food each year, it's almost shocking that anyone in America goes hungry. Yet every day, there are millions of children and adults who do not get the meals they need to thrive. We work to get nourishing food – from farmers, manufacturers, and retailers – to people in need. At the same time, we also seek to help the people we serve to build a path to a brighter, food-secure future.

Meals on Wheels America is the leadership organization supporting the more than 5,000 community-based programs across the country that are dedicated to addressing senior isolation and hunger. This network serves virtually every community in America and, along with more than two million staff and volunteers, delivers the nutritious meals, friendly visits and safety checks that enable America’s seniors to live nourished lives with independence and dignity. By providing funding, leadership, education, research and advocacy support, Meals on Wheels America empowers its local member programs to strengthen their communities, one senior at a time.

WCK uses the power of food to heal communities and strengthen economies through times of crisis and beyond. In 2010, my wife Patricia and I had a big dream to start World Central Kitchen. We envisioned an organization that would use food to empower communities and strengthen economies, and for many years we saw an amazing impact through our clean cookstoves initiative, culinary training programs, and social enterprise ventures. But we had no idea we would one day be answering calls in Puerto Rico and around the world to serve meals in the aftermath of disaster – and we quickly learned that food is a powerful tool to heal communities in times of crisis and beyond.

No child should go hungry in a nation as wealthy as ours. But millions of kids are living with hunger right now because of the pandemic. With No Kid Hungry, you can help change that for good.

In 2016, Justin and his wife Kourtney founded 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. JTF partnered with the Dream Center through the Covid-19 pandemic to assist their drive-thru & walk-up food & essentials line. In an effort to support both local restaurants & Angelinos in need, JTF placed bulk meal orders to be distributed on the daily line throughout 2020. Also, Justin & Kourtney have been a major supporter and participant of the AM570 Radio-a-Thon supporting the Paralyzed Veterans of America and the DC Veterans Program. Turner not only makes community appearances on behalf of the Dodgers, but frequently schedules his own visits to CHLA, Cedars-Sinai, UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital and the Dream Center.