{"id":82428,"date":"2025-12-13T19:57:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/82428\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T19:57:08","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T19:57:08","slug":"heres-help-ceo-and-south-florida-radio-legend-john-footy-kross-jr-dies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/82428\/","title":{"rendered":"Here\u2019s Help CEO and South Florida radio legend John \u2018Footy\u2019 Kross Jr. dies"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">MIAMI \u2014 Longtime South Florida Radio personality John J. Kross Jr., affectionately known as \u201cFooty,\u201d has died, his organization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeresHelpInc \" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/HeresHelpInc \">confirmed on Facebook Saturday morning.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Kross served as CEO of Here\u2019s Help for more than 50 years, dedicating his life to helping others with addiction and shaping the organization\u2019s mission and growth. He was also a familiar voice on South Florida radio, entertaining generations of listeners on WHYI Y-100.7 and WIOD News Radio 610.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cJohn generously used his voice, influence and passion to raise awareness and funds for those we serve, leaving an enduring impact on our programs, our community and countless lives,\u201d Here\u2019s Help said in a statement. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cHis commitment to service, advocacy and compassion will never be forgotten. We extend our deepest condolences to John\u2019s family, friends and all who were touched by his remarkable life. May he rest in peace, and may his legacy continue through the work he helped build,\u201d the organization added. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz also <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepDWStweets\/status\/1999909348311441887 \" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"https:\/\/x.com\/RepDWStweets\/status\/1999909348311441887 \">paid tribute to Kross<\/a>, calling him a \u201clegendary\u201d figure in South Florida in a post on X Saturday. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">\u201cFooty helped wake up South Florida for more than 30 years on Y100, and his commitment to community was second to none,\u201d she said. \u201cThrough Here\u2019s Help, he assisted thousands of people fighting addiction and changed so many lives. There was no one with better humor or good nature than Footy. His voice, advocacy and personality will be deeply missed. May his memory be for a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">His cause of death is unknown at this time. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Local 10 assignment editor Mariana Ortiz contributed to this story. <\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfe0 News From Your Neighborhood<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph b-article-body__copyright\">Copyright 2025 by WPLG Local10.com &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MIAMI \u2014 Longtime South Florida Radio personality John J. Kross Jr., affectionately known as \u201cFooty,\u201d has died, his&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-82428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}