2011 Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic raises $650,000 for OK Kids Korral pediatric cancer lodge
A version of this story will appear in Wednesday’s The Oklahoman.
Toby Keith’s spring charity event raises $650,000
For the second year, proceeds from the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic have been earmarked for the planned OK Kids Korral, which will provide housing for pediatric cancer patients and families seeking care at Children’s Hospital.
Oklahoma country music star Toby Keith’s eighth annual spring fundraiser has raised more than $650,000 to aid state children battling cancer.
For the second year, proceeds from the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic have been earmarked for the planned OK Kids Korral, which will provide housing for pediatric cancer patients and families seeking care at Children’s Hospital.
Keith’s two-day fundraiser opens every year with the “Denim & Diamonds”-theme dinner and auction, which again sold out with more than 750 attendees. The top two live auction items were private dinners with the event’s Norman-based host; each meal went for $52,000. An all-inclusive elk hunt at the Express UU Bar Ranch in Cimarron, N.M., including private jet transportation, earned a winning bid of $30,000. Other top items included an all-inclusive Houston Astros suite and a spot in Tiger Woods Celebrity Pro Am. Nothing in the live auction sold for less than $7,000, according to a news release.
More than 100 auction items lined tables at Norman’s Riverwind Casino. Silent auction items included tickets to a Minnesota Vikings game vs. the Chicago Bears, including a meet-and-greet with All-Pro running back and former University of Oklahoma standout Adrian Peterson ($3,200), an autographed Toby Keith “American Ride” tour jacket and guitar ($6,000), and an OU helmet signed by all the school’s Heisman Trophy winners ($3,200).
The second day of the event is a golf tournament at the private Belmar Golf Club in Norman. This year’s winners were the Steve Owens Insurance Team in first, the Access Sports Team in second, and the Flair Automotive/Enterprise Rent-A-Car Team in third. First-time participant Keith Myers won a Ford F-150 in the Built Ford Tough Shootout.
The Toby Keith Foundation has secured land near Children’s Hospital and had an architect draw up plans for the OK Kids Korral, and Keith recently told The Oklahoman he expects the facility to cost $8 million to $10 million to build. He plans to start a second celebrity golf tournament in Las Vegas in fall 2012 to boost the fundraising efforts.
“It’s slow gears turning, but it’s gonna be something that Oklahoma City can be really proud of when we’re done with it. It’s just a long battle,” he told The Oklahoman.
For information, go to www.tobykeithfoundation.org.
-BAM
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wonderful news!