Brown’s hits to benefit hospital

A couple months back, in my LAKings.com feature, I took a look at Dustin Brown’s charity work, which has included donations, a park-building endeavor in Carson and a meeting with a young fan through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Today, the Kings announced that Brown will donate $50 per hit this season to the Newborn and Infant Critical Care Unit at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Brown is far and away the Kings’ leader in hits this season, with 194 in 52 games, and is regularly among the league leaders in hits.

The choice of the hospital unit has personal significance to Brown. His second son, Mason, was born in Feb. 2009, and was more than eight weeks premature. He had to spend extended time an intensive-care unit but is now healthy and Brown’s wife, Nicole, is now pregnant with the couple’s third child.

“This is something that hits very close to home,” Brown said. “We want to help other families that are going through what we went through with Mason, our second son. We know that Children’s Hospital Los Angeles provides the most advanced care for critically ill fetuses, newborns, infants and their mothers.”