Ever since making his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers organization in 2016, following an under-the-radar trade with the Mariners, Chris Taylor has always made a big impression.
In his 11th game with the Club, he belted his first career homer (a grand slam) and drove in six runs. The next year, he was the Dodgers' leadoff man on a pennant-winning team and was named co-MVP of the NLCS. In 2018, his game-saving catch in left field in Game 7 of the NLCS in Milwaukee will be remembered forever in Los Angeles. In 2021, he made his first All-Star team and capped that campaign by drilling a walk-off homer in the NL Wild Card game, propelling the Club to an NLCS appearance. In 2022, he signed a long-term deal to stay with the franchise, and in 2023, he married Mary Keller. Together, their efforts to make Los Angeles and Chris’ hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia, a better place have resulted in Taylor’s first nomination for the revered Roberto Clemente Award.
In 2020, Chris and Mary started the CT3 Foundation, which works to raise funds for children with cancer and other life-altering conditions, as well as raises awareness for those vulnerable in their local communities, specifically Los Angeles and Virginia Beach. To date, the foundation has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to support those in need. Some sponsors and organizations they have partnered with include Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Variety Boys & Girls Club in Boyle Heights, The Children’s Hospital of The King's Daughters (Va.) and the Roc Solid Foundation (Va.).
The impetus for the foundation’s mission came from Chris’ good friend Kyle Profilet’s death from cancer in 2019. Kyle lost his fight with osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer in his right leg. Chris and Kyle grew up together in the same neighborhood and were also baseball teammates through high school. Before Kyle was diagnosed, Chris had never heard of sarcoma. Now, it has affected his life on many different levels. Only one year after Kyle’s passing, Mary also lost one of her childhood friends, Brian, to soft tissue sarcoma. The next year, Chris’ neighbor and friend, Dalton, also lost his fight with Ewing sarcoma. Since they started the foundation in 2021, Chris and Mary have developed many new friendships with sick kids through their work. Unfortunately, not all of those stories have a happy ending. Although sometimes painful, personally investing themselves in many of these kids’ tragedies has only strengthened their motivation to do more.
Motivated to carry on the legacy of his friend Kyle and other young people who have been impacted by cancer, Chris launched his first event in February 2021 -- “Home Run for Hope” -- a virtual concert featuring performances by Brad Paisley, Scotty McCreery and Jake Owen, among others. The event raised more than $100,000 for The Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters and Roc Solid Foundation during the challenges of the pandemic. Then, in January 2022, Chris and Mary launched their first in-person event, “Driving for Hope,” at Topgolf Virginia Beach for the same beneficiaries. The event, which was hosted twice in 2022, raised $250,000 for The Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters and Roc Solid Foundation. As the Taylors built connections with individuals and organizations in their Los Angeles community, they committed to making an impact there as well and brought Driving for Hope to Los Angeles this past January. The event raised more than $300,000 and benefited Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ “Children’s Fund,” which supports the hospital’s innovative research programs, helps provide top-tier training for its pediatric specialists and sustains family-centered care not covered by insurance.
Aside from major fundraisers during the offseason, Chris and Mary are involved in their community throughout the year. Most recently, this has included a partnership with the Variety Boys & Girls Club in Boyle Heights, for whom the CT3 Foundation sponsored a Diversity and Inclusion Carnival during Pride Month. The CT3 Foundation revealed a brand-new garden and meditation space for the club. In addition to their work with the CT3 Foundation, Chris and Mary have attended countless community events for the Los Angeles Dodgers Foundation and the Dodgers’ Community Relations department, including the annual Blue Diamond Gala, several kids backpack giveaways for LAUSD and Baby2Baby, school visits and numerous hospital visits. Chris has also been a frequent participant in the Dodgers’ offseason “I love LA” community tour. In 2022, Chris and Mary spent a day at the Discovery Cube Science Center in Symlar with 300 L.A. Unified School District students from the Northeast Valley. Together with the students, they engaged with different exhibits and learned about health and nutrition, meteorology and sustainability.