Toby Keith Foundation moves forward with plans for OK Kids Korral development in Oklahoma City
Oklahoma country music star Toby Keith, along with Melissa Abernathy and her 4-year-old daughter Malorie and oncology patient Stevy Cellum, 14, cut a ribbon during a ceremony opening the newly redone pediatric oncology unit at Children's Hospital in Oklahoma City on Monday, Sept. 14, 2009. (By Paul Hellstern, The Oklahoman Archives)
The Toby Keith Foundation is moving forward with plans to build a temporary home for Oklahoma pediatric cancer patients seeking treatment and their families.
Plans and designs were approved Wednesday by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority for the planned $8.5 million OK Kids Korral at NE 8 and Laird in Oklahoma City, reports my fine colleague Steve Lackmeyer.
The planned 25,000-square-foot, two-story building – to be built on land now owned by the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority – will provide a home for pediatric cancer patients and their families while they are receiving treatment at The Children’s Hospital at OU Medical Center, the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Cancer Center and other nearby facilities.
Toby Keith Foundation Director Juliet Nees-Bright told Steve that construction on the 25,000-square-foot, two-story building should begin this spring and be complete in late 2013.
The country music superstar first got involved with the cause of helping Oklahoma pediatric cancer patients through Ally’s House, a Norman-based nonprofit that provides aid to Oklahoma children with cancer and their families. It is named for Allison Webb, the 2-year-old daughter of Scott Webb, one of Keith’s original bandmates, and his wife, Linda Webb. Ally died in 2003 of kidney cancer; the Webbs and Keith founded the charity.
For the first six years, proceeds from Keith’s annual two-day spring fundraising event went to Ally’s House. For the past two years, proceeds from the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic have been earmarked for the OK Kids Korral. The 2011 event raised more than $650,000 for the project.
In a spring interview, Keith told me his foundation takes in $750,000 to $1 million a year for the project, but 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 said.
The OK Kids Korral will operate similarly to Ronald McDonald House. It will have a look modeled on a Western lodge, Nees-Bright told Steve
“It’s central to everything, near doctors, and near the energy and vibe of downtown. Oklahoma is still a very rural community, and 80 percent of these kids are coming from outside our county. We have people traveling here for treatment every day. So this will be a very uplifting setting,” Nees-Bright said.
For more information on the Toby Keith Foundation, go to ww.tobykeithfoundation.org.
-BAM
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Comments
Thank you Toby and Family. We love you all. God Bless you and may Jesus Christ be praised. From the Buntje Bunch
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This is just another reason why I love Toby so much …I’m a very proud Warrior from New York on Long Island …Love you Toby..God Bless you and your Family…..