Blake Shelton stays busy with his music career, a bit of acting and a lot of career coaching on “The Voice.” He’s been on the series since the beginning, and his picks have won nine times and counting over the show’s 22 seasons. But despite his busy schedule, he returns to his Oklahoma roots time and time again for relaxation and philanthropy.
Though Shelton moved to Nashville after high school, he remains connected his home state with a 1,300 acre ranch near the town of Tishomingo. As an avid outdoorsman, it stands to reason that he’d support nonprofits with the same values.
The Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Foundation launched about four years ago and Shelton was one of the first to come on board with his support. While the organization is part of the State Department with a mission to protect, preserve and conserve wildlife and natural spaces, they don’t actually receive government funding apart from the revenue they generate from licensing and fees for various outdoor activities.
When Shelton came on, “they offered to just let him be a figurehead board member,” says Rick Grundman, the foundation’s executive director. “But, he insisted on being a full-time board member and not just putting his face up there, which says a lot about him.”
Grundman explains that as Shelton himself grew up enjoying nature, in his conversations with the singer it has been “obvious he really wants the next generation of kids, grandkids, etc. to be able to go and experience the things he did.”
Some of Shelton’s hands-on service for the organization has been performing in fundraising concerts (while wrangling good friend and fellow singer Luke Bryan into the mix) and hosting foster children for a day of nature-loving activities at his ranch.
“Actions speak a whole lot louder than words,” says Grundman of Shelton’s behavior with the chil-dren. He wasn’t there for just a meet and greet, but stayed all day, teaching the kids to fish.
“That was really impressive, certainly a memory those kids will have for the rest of their lives,” Grundman reflects.
It’s really the whole package with Shelton: “He supports us in his words and actions and…wallet, quite frankly,” says Grundman. “He also made [financial] contributions, and we’re very appreciative of that.”
Shelton has also done numerous benefit concerts around the country over the years as well, including one on the eve of the 2023 Super Bowl for Treasure House, a community for young adults with devel-opmental disabilities founded by former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner and his wife, Brenda. Shelton wife, Gwen Stefani, also performed.
Shelton’s also been supportive of the Children’s Hospital Foundation. In 2016, he donated $600,000 to the Jimmy Everest Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at the Children’s Hospital at the Oklahoma University Medical Center. Then, just two years later, he launched the Blake Shelton Cancer Research Program under the hospital’s umbrella.
Shelton’s young cousin, Aspen Van Horn, had received care there and the singer credited the organi-zation with her successful treatment.
Another organization Shelton has been promoting is the forthcoming OKPOP museum, for which he serves as an honorary campaign chair for their current fundraising campaign.
It’s conceived of as a space that will “tell the story of amazing Oklahomans in all aspects of pop culture, from film to television, to comic books [and] literature, to stage performances and music,” says OKPOP museum executive director Jeff Moore. “Our mission is to inspire future generations of young people [in their] creative endeavors.”
With a building secured, efforts are underway to raise the final amounts, which will allow the museum staff to install exhibits.
Shelton seems to know no bounds when it comes to helping anyone in his home state. “The one thing about Blake is he’s just a regular guy, and just one of the sweetest people,” notes Moore. “He wants to help out where he can.”
(Pictured above: Tracy Lawrence and Blake Shelton perform onstage during C’Ya on The Flipside benefit concert, benefitting The Troy Gentry Foundation at the Grand Ole Opry on January 9, 2019 in Nashville, Tennessee.)
TIPSHEET
WHAT: Blake Shelton receives star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
WHEN: 11:30 a.m., May 12
WHERE: 6212 Hollywood Blvd.
WEB: walkoffame
