Three months after Kidd Kraddick's unexpected death, his daughter is readying his foundation's signature fundraising event.
Wednesday is Kidd's Kids Day, the major fundraiser for Kraddick's charity, which provides trips to Disney World and other places for seriously ill children and their families.
Kraddick's daughter, Caroline Cradick, is taking a more active role in her father's foundation and will eventually take its reins.
"This is the one thing I have that gets me out of bed every day, gets me looking forward to something, so I think I needed this," she said.
Her father, whose birth name was David Peter Cradick, died of cardiac disease in New Orleans in late July.
"My dad told me in 2012 he wanted me to take this over," Caroline Cradick said. "I just never thought it would be this early or this sudden."
She will participate in the Southwest Airlines Kidd's Kids Day donation hotline at the airline's headquarters on Wednesday morning. The hotline will also do on-air segments for the nationally syndicated "Kidd Kraddick in the Morning" radio show, which airs locally on KISS-FM.
Her father's sudden death was heartbreaking to people who had been donating and listening to him for decades. She sang at his funeral and was a pillar of strength.
"I feel like I have grown up 10 years in the last three months, but you have to roll with the punches," Cradick said. "And I just have to do what my dad wanted, and this was it."
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Kidd's Kids will send 50 sick children and their families to Disney World for four nights in November. This month, it is conducting a big push to raise the money.
"I feel like this is a gift he left me," Cradick said. "I have been saying that since day one -- this is a constant reminder of him, and that is the biggest gift he can give me."
More: Donate on Kidd's Kids Day 2013 or call 888-792-5439
