The love that keeps beating
November 14, 2025
| By La Crosse Community Foundation |
How one family is turning loss into a lifeline for others
When Alex Weber and Moran Lonning talk about their son, Charlie — affectionately known as Bubba — their faces light up.
“He had big emotions,” Alex said, smiling. “He had a loud voice, wanted to be held all the time, and he made sure you knew what he wanted. We spent so much time just holding him, bouncing him, loving him. We miss that every single day.”
Charlie was their first child, their first experience of parenthood’s wonder and fullness. He filled their days with movement, laughter, and warmth. When he passed away unexpectedly at three months old, their world stopped — but their love didn’t.
Finding purpose in loss
In the rawness of those first days and weeks, the couple’s family, friends, and community wanted to help. Alex and Moran, who serves as head women’s basketball coach at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, were surrounded with support from basketball players and their parents. And Moran’s brother, Connor Lonning, and his friend Tony Ayala began to imagine a way to keep Charlie’s spirit alive.
“They really gave the idea wings,” Moran says. “It started as people wanting to do something — anything — to honor Charlie. Then Connor and Tony turned that into action with a kickoff fundraiser that made everything real.
That first event, “A Night with the Weber Brothers” at the Rivoli Theatre — featuring the Weber Brothers Band, made up of Alex’s real-life brothers — drew a sold-out crowd on a school-night Wednesday. Friends and strangers filled the venue with love, music, and generosity.
“The support was unbelievable,” Alex said. “We expected maybe a few thousand dollars. We raised more than $60,000. It showed us that this leap of faith — starting Bubba’s Fund — was worth it.
A mission to save lives
Bubba’s Fund, established through La Crosse Area Community Foundation, began with a clear and urgent goal: to place automated external defibrillators in every state-licensed childcare facility in La Crosse.
“Charlie passed away from an unexplained death while at daycare,” Alex explained. “We realized that while some childcare centers had AEDs, not all did — and there was no requirement for it. We wanted to change that. Even if we can’t know whether an AED would have saved Charlie, we want to do everything possible to prevent another family from experiencing what we have.”
For Moran, the hope is simple yet profound. “Hopefully, none of them are ever used. But if one is — and it saves a child, a teacher, a parent — then it’s worth everything.”
Community, connection, and catharsis
For Alex and Moran, building Bubba’s Fund has been both an act of healing and a way to invite others into their journey.
“There’s a kind of catharsis in sharing our story,” Alex said. “If our openness can give someone else hope or strength, then that’s something good to come from all this.”
Moran added, “Grief doesn’t go away. But this gives people a way to connect with us, to help in a tangible way. That’s meant a lot.”
Their fund supports not only AED placement but also youth programs like Rising Athletes, which reduces financial barriers for kids in sports — and it partners with established nonprofits through LACF to extend its reach.
“We love that we can support organizations already doing great work,” Alex said. “LACF makes that possible. They’ve been wonderful to work with — they take your dream and help you make it real.”
Keeping Bubba’s spirit alive
Even as they expand Bubba’s Fund, Moran keeps Charlie close through her coaching. Each year, the UW–La Crosse women’s basketball team hosts Bubba’s Youth Night — a celebration of kids, family, and community. This season’s event, set for January 10, will feature Charlie’s Kids Carnival and special jerseys honoring 19 babies “gone too soon.” (For details, see bubbasfund.org or Bubba’s Fund on Facebook.)
“Charlie will always be our forever sixth man,” Moran said. “That night is about celebrating all kids — the ones we hold and the ones we carry in our hearts.”
The choice to name the fund Bubba’s Fund rather than Charlie’s Fund was intentional.
“‘Bubba’ is such a universal nickname,” Moran said. “Almost everyone’s called their baby Bubba at some point. We wanted the name to feel uniting — to remind people that this isn’t just about our child, but about all children, and how miraculous and precious they are.”
Love that lasts
Today, when Alex and Moran walk through La Crosse, they see reminders of their son everywhere — in playgrounds, classrooms, and little ones laughing on the sidelines.
“La Crosse has been such a special place for us,” Alex said. “Charlie was born here, lived his whole life here. We see him in the kids of this community. That’s why we want Bubba’s Fund to keep giving back here — because this is where he’ll always be.”
Through their grief, Alex and Moran are building something that carries love forward through loss — a fund that safeguards other families, strengthens community, and keeps one little boy’s love alive in every AED, every game, every child’s smile.