The nation lost a strong voice and a big heart on Saturday, July 27th in New Orleans. David Peter Cradick, known as Kidd Kraddick on the radio, was hosting a charity golf tournament for Kid’s Kidds, a program run by the Kidd Kraddick Foundation. He collapsed on the golf course and was rushed to the hospital where doctors tried to revive him. Kraddick had been a well-known and well-loved radio host for several decades. He was 53 years old. Kidd Kraddick in the Morning had been based near Dallas, Texas and had been syndicated to over 75 radio stations.
Kraddick launched Kidd’s Kids in the early 1990s by taking five families with a chonically or terminally ill child to San Antonio’s Sea World. The foundation now takes over 50 families to Disney World in Orlando every November. Families that attend the trip include parents and siblings of the sick children, and also focuses on financially burdened families that have been passed over by other “wish-granting” foundations. The trip includes airfare, hotel stay, park packages and special encounters and gifts for the families. Attendees said that Kraddick was always the highlight of the trip and expressed genuine care and interest in the lives of the children.
The charity has gotten donations from listeners of Kraddick’s show, where he frequently promoted the trip. It also has national sponsors, including restaurant chain Raising Cane’s, Southwest Airlines and the Orlando Magic basketball team. In 2010, the Kraddick Foundation launched The Glam Squad Program, which sends licensed cosmetologists and beauticians to hospitals to give free make overs to teen girls. The girls receive free beauty products, spa treatments and photo shoots in the hospital.
Kidd Kraddick will be remembered by listeners, families of ill children and celebrities for his big heart and fun personality. The radio station where he worked was littered with notes and flowers, and many fans called into the stationed and passed condolences through social media. A morning show with co-hosts Kellie Rasberry, Big Al, Jay Si and Jenna shared thoughts and feelings the Monday after his death. Kraddick is survived by a daughter Caroline and a fiancée.