Toby Keith was one of the true legends of country music.
But his impact went well beyond the stage.
And a country music star revealed one secret about Toby Keith that everyone needs to hear.
Country music legend Toby Keith passed away at the age of 62 in February after a battle with stomach cancer.
Countless tributes poured in from fans and his fellow country artists after his music touched so many people.
A fellow country musician revealed how many lives Keith touched with his charity work.
Toby Keith donated $20 million to a children’s cancer charity
Country music star Colt Ford – a friend of Keith’s – appeared on the Ten Year Town podcast where opened up about an aspect of Toby Keith’s life not many people knew about.
He was dedicated to helping kids fight cancer.
In 2006, he started The Toby Keith Foundation, which created the OK Kids Korral to provide free housing for families who came in from out of town for their child’s cancer treatment in Oklahoma City.
“OK Kids Korral helps make life a little easier for children with cancer by providing a safe, convenient, and hopeful place for families to connect with each other and focus on the well-being of their child. OK Kids Korral provides daytime and overnight lodging for pediatric patients and their families,” the website states.
Ford said that Keith poured an extraordinary amount of his own money into OK Kids Korral and worked to make sure it was a top-notch facility.
“He puts about $20 mil out of his pocket to run,” Ford said. “There’s a lot of guys doing stuff, you ain’t doing that. I know people go out and raise money and stuff, but they ain’t stroking a $20 mil check out of their pocket. First of all, a very few can stroke that check.”
Ford said that he went there once and was stunned that it was as nice as a Ritz Carlton hotel and all free of charge for the families.
“He paid for all that himself, man like that’s crazy,” Ford stated.
Keith changing lives with his work
Ford told a story about how a man came up to him and Keith as they were leaving the OK Kids Korral to thank Keith for letting him stay there.
The man nearly broke down when he told Keith that without the facility, his son wouldn’t have been able to get the care he needed in his fight with cancer.
“And for a guy to just be that emotional, and to another man and just be that humble, and that grateful. It’s just like wow. I’d like to be able to do something like that,” Ford said. “He is a legend . . . for real.”