Charity We Support
When a child in Oklahoma is diagnosed with cancer, treatment often means weeks or months of travel, far from home, at the worst possible time for a family to be spending money on motel rooms. Toby Keith’s OK Kids Korral was built so they do not have to.
What They Do
The Korral is a 25,000-square-foot house on the Oklahoma Health Center campus in Oklahoma City — walking distance from Oklahoma Children’s Hospital OU Health and the Stephenson Cancer Center. It has twelve private overnight suites, each sleeping up to five people, plus four daytime rooms for families who come in for treatment and head home the same day. All of it is free.
Inside there is a full kitchen, laundry, a family resource room, a game room, a teen area, indoor and outdoor play space, and a movie theater that doubles as a storm shelter. A separate neutropenic wing protects children whose treatment has left their immune systems compromised. The Korral is not a hospital program — it is an independent house that works alongside the treatment centers next door.
Who It Is For
- A child eighteen or younger who is in treatment for cancer
- A family whose permanent address is more than thirty miles from the Korral
- A referral submitted by the child’s healthcare provider — families cannot refer themselves
- A parent or guardian who stays with the child throughout the visit
Priority goes to the families traveling farthest and to those with the greatest financial need. Referral details are on the foundation’s referrals and admissions page.
The Story Behind It
Toby Keith spent roughly a decade raising money for the Korral through his annual golf tournament before the doors opened in 2013. Keith died of stomach cancer on February 5, 2024. The Toby Keith Foundation and the Korral carry on without him, and the golf classic still runs every summer — the 2026 tournament raised more than $1.35 million.
What It Adds Up To
The foundation’s most recently published figures are from 2021. That year the Korral hosted 832 family visits and provided more than 2,500 nights of free lodging, saving guest families over half a million dollars in lodging, meals and travel. Families came from 71 of Oklahoma’s 77 counties, and from outside the state as well.
How You Can Help
- Give directly to the foundation, one time or monthly
- Send something from the wish list — everyday supplies the house runs through constantly
- Volunteer — cook a home-made meal, bake with the kids, donate a professional service like haircuts, run a toy or book drive, or help clean
- Play in or sponsor the annual Toby Keith & Friends Golf Classic
Toby Keith’s OK Kids Korral is part of The Toby Keith Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity (EIN 20-4089800) tax-exempt since 2006 and rated four out of four stars by Charity Navigator. 818 N.E. 8th Street, Oklahoma City, OK 73104 — (405) 271-6552. We Help People Everywhere is not affiliated with the foundation; gifts you make go directly to them.