ST PAUL, Minn. — Thousands of Minnesotans from across the metro tune-in each weekday morning to listen to the KS95 Morning Show, hosted by Crisco, Dez & Ryan.
Those who tune in will certainly hear the chemistry between the three hosts, and they'll also hear Crisco's stories about his Black Lab, Babe.
"Just her face – those eyes – I mean there is no more adorable loving face than that face," Crisco said.
On Sunday, the morning show host received a call from his mother.
"Something's wrong with Babe, something's off," Crisco's mom told him.
At that moment, Crisco rushed back to his rescue dog after spending half the day on the KS95 float at the Twin Cities Pride March.
He said that he took Babe to local veterinarians hoping to figure what was wrong, but he said the quickest time he could get in was still a six-hour wait.
Crisco spent overnight at the vet, sleeping on the floor, before receiving the news that Babe had cancer.
On Monday – Crisco was dealt with the hardest decision of his life – putting Babe down after 10 years.
"I’ll never stop missing her – I’ll never stop loving her," Crisco said.
But Crisco knew that whenever someone deals with a difficult situation, you have to find "a bright side," and Crisco's co-hosts knew that too.
Dez and Ryan wanted to show Crisco how much he meant to them, so they announced the fundraiser they organized – Bucks For Babe – that would give donations from their listeners to the rescue agency Secondhand Hounds.
KS95 fan donations poured in right away.
Rachel Mairose, the founder of Secondhand Hounds, said her office manager texted her eight minutes after the fundraiser was announced on-air, and told her they'd already reached $4,000.
"The insanity of that – it just blew me away," Mairose said. "And it never stopped – it just kept coming in."
Mairose said the influx of support is especially helpful because donations have lagged in the past year.
"People are nervous. They're worried about a recession, and so we don't see the donations we saw in the last two years," she said.
Spire Credit Union announced they'd match the donation up to $25,000, which the fundraiser soon surpassed.
Friday, Crisco's cohosts brought in members from Spire Credit Union and Secondhand Hounds to reveal the grand total on air. As of the time of the reveal, they had received $94,000 in donations.
"$94,000?" Crisco yelled with tears welling from his eyes. It was $94,500 to be exact, matching the station's call numbers.
"It was meant to be!" Dez said.
Mairose said the fundraiser will be able to save "thousands of lives."
Secondhand Hounds brought in a second surprise for Crisco, foster dogs. The radio host got to hold puppies while thanking his Twin Cities listeners for all of their support on Friday.
"I’m speechless for their love and support for somebody that some of them haven’t had a chance to meet," Crisco said.
Throughout the morning, memories of Crisco's beloved dog Babe came back to him.
"I was saved by Babe. She got me through some really dark times after my dad passed away," he said.
And even though Babe passed away Monday, Crisco says, "I'll never stop missing her. I'll never stop loving her."
You can still donate to Bucks for Babe. All the money will go to help dogs being transported into Secondhand Hounds July 10th, and on July 16, there will be a public adoption event.