NORMAN — With the memory of the late country music superstar still keenly felt, the 2024 set a new fundraising record, raising more than $3.1 million.
The Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic returned for its 20th edition May 31-June 1 in Norman, with the two-day event continuing as the largest annual fundraiser for the Toby Keith Foundation's OK Kids Korral, a cost-free home-away-from-home for children with cancer seeking treatment in Oklahoma City.
"We're very lucky. ... I think we've accomplished a lot," Juliet Nees-Bright, executive director of the Toby Keith Foundation, told The Oklahoman during the event.
"Luckily, Toby opened up so many doors for us ... that he really did set us up to succeed."
Keith, who died Feb. 5 at age 62 after a multiyear battle with stomach cancer, told The Oklahoman in 2019 that he considered the OK Kids Korral "probably my greatest accomplishment." More than 800 of his friends, family and foundation supporters took that sentiment to heart at the May 31 dinner, auction and concert at Norman's Riverwind Casino.
"As his children, we've decided and discussed that it's our mission and our honor and our duty to make sure that this event continues and it grows every single year, as it has continued to do for 20 years," said Keith's daughter, Krystal Keith, as she took the Riverwind stage alongside her sister, Shelley Covel Rowland, and brother, Stelen Covel.
"I hope that you guys can help us do that. I hope that we can count on you to continue to support us. I know that we can."
Toby Keith's hometown charity event has raised nearly $20 million over the past 20 years
In Toby Keith's absence, his longtime friends Bob Stoops, former University of Oklahoma football head coach, and Jim West, business executive and founder of NCAA golf’s Jim West Challenge, took over as emcees for the gala, which this year included live and silent auctions, dinner and live music from headliners the Eli Young Band and local band The Bottom of The Barrel.
The gala annually takes place the night before the shotgun start golf tournament at Norman's Belmar Golf Club, which Keith co-owned.
With Gene McKown as auctioneer, the live auction again proved a key aspect of the fundraising event. Among this year's top-selling auction items:
Custom guitars featuring the logo from each year of the event sold twice for $90,000.
Two paintings by KWTV anchor Robin Marsh were auctioned off for $125,000.
Two guitars painted by Johnny Smith went for more than $100,000.
A hand-drawn football play created by Stoops sold for $35,000.
A VIP experience with former MLB pitcher Roger Clemens auctioned for $40,000.
As the night's total grew, Scott Fulkerson, one of Keith's former classmates, brought the crowd to its feet with a donation to push the auction total beyond $1 million.
Before this year, the Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic had raised a total of nearly $18 million for the Oklahoma City-based foundation, with the 2023 installment of Keith's hometown charity event having raised a record $1.8 million.
With 2024's edition raising more than $1.6 million, the event has raised just shy of $20 million since its inception.
Supporters pledge more than $1.5 million to support Toby Keith Foundation endowment
Also during the May 31 gala, the Toby Keith Foundation announced its new goal of creating a $10 million endowment and received pledges of more than $1.5 million to that goal.
"Obviously, if we had our rathers, Toby would be right here. But when that was not our reality, we realized we have to kind of switch gears a little bit," Nees-Bright said.
"So, we're going to be asking people to give to a fund that we're not going to touch. It's just going to be invested and making money and continuing to grow."
During the gala, nine Oklahoma families dealing with pediatric cancer who have stayed at the OK Kids Korral in the past decade took the Riverwind stage and were greeted by a standing ovation from the crowd.
Mark Towler, founder and chairman of Phase 2 software development company in OKC, told The Oklahoman he was inspired to donate $100,000 at the gala to support the OK Kids Korral.
He made the donation in memory of his wife, Lisa, who survived cancer as a teenager but died in 2020 during heart surgery to repair long-term damage done by radiation treatments.
"As a teenager, she was treated back in the '70s in New York City, and she lived three hours away. ... They were staying in convents and motels, and she got taken out of middle school," Towler told The Oklahoman backstage at the gala.
"When she passed away, we knew we wanted to do something to honor her. So, the family's been a supporter, our company's been a supporter, of the Kids Korral (since). What they do to support the kids and help them through their journey — and help the parents, too — is just tremendous."
After Keith's death, Towler decided to boost his donation to the six-figure range this year.
"With Toby's passing ... our family felt this like this would be a good way of honoring Lisa, but also help them to put in place their endowment that will impact the Kids Korral for years to come," he said.
Krystal Keith told The Oklahoman behind the scenes at the May 31 event that she and her family are eager to continue her father's work through the foundation.
"Somebody has to carry the torch, somebody has to lead the charge in raising money and making sure that this foundation is able to continue to support the Korral. So, we've already started stepping into those roles in making sure that we are helping to build those relationships," Krystal Keith told The Oklahoman.
"The work still has to be done. And we're here to do it."
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic raises $3.1 million for his charity
