GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A special moment on West Michigan airwaves is getting quite a bit of attention this week and for good reason.
"The Free Beer & Hot Wings Morning Show" is known for its "idiot" antics, but that took a backseat for a family in need.
It was a typical trivia challenge on the radio show Thursday morning.
John Leeuw won, competing against Kelly "Cheese" Cheesborough. What John didn't know is that he wasn't selected at random.
The crew at Free Beer & Hot Wings knew his family's story.
John and Ashley Leeuw's three-year-old daughter Mylah has autism.
One unexpected challenge as of late has been sleepless nights in her undersized crib.
"She flipped herself out of it last August and landed directly on her head," John explained. "Luckily, she wasn't hurt seriously."
John put his handiness to the test, lowering the mattress to the floor and covering the gaps.
Mylah's tall though, and she's restless.
He added, "She's now to the point where she could easily do it again."
Their best bet for a bed for their daughter is something called the "Cubby Bed." It's enclosed with the right kind of tech. Unfortunately though, it costs $9,000 out-of-pocket.
Insurance was zero help. They were told she'd have to be seriously injured first or terminally ill.
Ashley said, "It was really frustrating to not be able to provide our daughter a safe place in our home, which is supposed to be the safest place for her. It was beyond frustrating."
They created a GoFundMe and every little bit has helped. Family and friends donated almost $2,000.
$200 in trivia winnings certainly helped, but the morning show had something else up its sleeve.
Immediately after the trivia segment, Free Beer told John their charity organization would donate $8,000, which would get them all the way to their goal of buying a new bed for their daughter.
There was one moment that got to everyone.
"When John reacted with 'Are you serious?' That got me," Free Beer said.
"I know that he's got the biggest heart in the world, and he would do anything for her," Ashley said. "So, to see him or hear him get emotional, and know that this was so important to our family was huge."
Kelly Cheese, who competed against John is the one who found the donation site. She had to keep up the act initially.
She said, "So, I played a very real trivia match against him and he still won, which really gets to my competitive side. But yeah, it was great."
Free Beer added, "Literally everybody on the show is like that is exactly why we do this."
In addition to their thanks for all the support and words of encouragement, the Leeuws had a message for anyone with a young child to trust their gut if they think something's not right because early intervention is key and they say state resources have been a huge help.
Ashley concluded, "It's worth every penny to get her everything that she needs to thrive and succeed in life."
Watch the full video, courtesy of The Free Beer & Hot Wings Morning Show, below:
Click here to donate to The Free Beer & Hot Wings Morning Show's Idiots for Underdogs charity.
Here is the linkto the GoFundMe for the Leeuws.
