It is with great sorrow that we are saying goodbye to one of the pillars in the history of WHAS11 and the WHAS Crusade for Children. Bud Harbsmeier passed away on Saturday, December 4th at the age of 86 after a courageous battle against kidney cancer. Bud was an award winning journalist for 20 years at WHAS11. In 1982 he decided to walk away from his news career and pursue a much different path.
He took over as the Director of the WHAS Crusade for Children and stayed in that role for the next 19 years. Bud retired from leading the Crusade in 2000 but he never gave up working for the children with special needs in #Kentucky and #Indiana.
Bud Harbsmeier is survived by his three sons: Curt, Craig (Paula) & Kent (Debbie) and 4 grandchildren Kristen Alvarez (Justin), Alexis, Kyle & Katlyn Harbsmeier.
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Cards and donations can be sent to:
WHAS Crusade for Children
520 West Chestnut
Louisville KY 40202
Click here to make a secure online memorial donation remembering Bud.
Watch this video tribute, produced by Phil Dunaway, as Bud talks about the WHAS Crusade for Children in his own words.
Click here to see a video and more about Bud’s life and WHAS career from WHAS11’s Doug Proffitt.
Click here to read more about Bud’s life from this story in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Click here to read Bud’s obituary and funeral arrangements.
The WHAS Crusade for Children’s annual year-end special, “Building the Future”, will air on WHAS11 Saturday, December 11th at 6:30pm. It’s hosted by Terry Meiners from NewsRadio 840 WHAS and Hayley Minogue of WHAS11 News.
It’s a special about the Crusade Endowment. You’ll hear from financial experts on the many ways you can help the WHAS Crusade for Children in your will and estate planning.
You’ll meet some of the children with special needs your donations help. And you’ll learn about the many ways to give and how you can make a difference in the life of a child.
The endowment is critical every year, but even more so during this pandemic.
The 30-minute program will air multiple times on WHAS11:
Saturday, December 11 at 6:30pm
Saturday, December 25 at 1:00pm
Sunday, December 26 at 5:30am
A special 60-minute version will air multiple times on NewsRadio 840 WHAS:
Friday, December 24 at 4:00pm
Saturday, December 25 at 6:00am
Saturday, December 25 at Noon
Call 502-582-7706, leave your name and number, someone will get back to you.
Send your donation to:
WHAS Crusade for Children
520 W. Chestnut St.
Louisville, KY 40202.
Please be sure to make note if the donation is in honor or memory of someone or if you’d like to give credit to a certain fire department.
Give online safely and securely. There is a section where someone can honor/memorialize a loved one or credit a fire department.
Venmo a donation to @CrusadeForChildren. You can credit your fire department in the comments section.
Just like Venmo, use Cash App and make a secure donation to $CrusadeChildren. You can credit your fire dept. in the notes section.
If you use PayPal, you can use it to donate to the WHAS Crusade for Children!
If you have an Amazon smart device, just say, “Alexa, donate to the Crusade for Children…” and Alexa will walk you through your secure donation, charging it to your card on file with Amazon.
Go to the Crusade’s Facebook page to donate securely online. Facebook does not keep any fees for a charitable donation!
The WHAS Crusade for Children, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) public charity. Gifts are tax deductible as permitted by law. EIN #23-7075524.