The first thing Pascual “Pops” Santiago, a 24-year-old artist from Blue Island, did with grant money from the Andrew Weishar Foundation was take the family’s dog to the veterinarian for overdue vaccines.
Then he fixed his muffler and bought gas so he could take his younger cousins to the movies.
“Pops is always thinking about other people,” his mother Michelle Santiago said. “He will use the grant for normal things we can’t afford for him to do, things we’ve been trying to save for, and take the pressure off us.”
“Pops,” who has hepatocellular carcinoma, the most common type of liver cancer, and stage four cirrhosis due to autoimmune hepatitis, also paid some medical bills and bought eyeglasses.
“He’s excited because now he can see very well,” she said, noting long-term use of prednisone, a steroid, caused cataracts. “The grant has given him strength and a sense of normalcy in what seems like a world of chaos right now. Danny (Weishar) reaches out all the time and that gives Pops a sense there’s somebody out there who knows what he’s going through.”
Indeed, Danny Weishar does know. His older brother Andrew, an athlete and honor student at Brother Rice High School who went on to Illinois Wesleyan University, was diagnosed with colorectal cancer at age 19.
Families from Chicago’s Beverly and Mount Greenwood neighborhoods and strangers from afar rallied. Every day someone dropped off dinner. There were calls and letters from throughout the country along with financial and emotional support.
“The entire community made us feel better. That’s a tribute to the South Side of Chicago,” said Danny Weishar, a recent graduate of University of Illinois. “Not everybody receives that kind of support and Andrew wanted to make sure families do. A week before he passed (in 2012) he asked one thing of us – to pay forward the kindness and generosity we received.”
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The family established the Andrew Weishar Foundation to help local kids and young adults battling cancer. It has helped 35 families to date, awarding more than $120,000 to beneficiaries in 2014 alone.
On July 18, the foundation will hold its biggest fundraiser yet.
The third annual WeishFest (pronounced “wishfest”) from noon to midnight at Standard Bank Stadium in Crestwood will feature headliner Eddie Money, the singer, songwriter and saxophonist known for the songs “Two Tickets to Paradise,” “Take Me Home Tonight,” “Baby Hold On,” “Think I’m In Love” and “Shakin.'”
Other acts range from Warrant, multiplatinum rockers whose hits include “Heaven,” “Cherry Pie” and “Down Boys,” to the Hunter Smith Band, a country-rock act from Indiana.
Jeff Jacobs, a Chicago pianist who toured with Foreigner and Billy Joel and has written and/or produced for Paul Simon, Dennis DeYoung and others, will perform between acts, in the celebrity lounge.
Tickets start at $25. VIP tickets for $75 include unlimited food and beverage and access to the party deck.
Andrew and Danny’s younger brother Nic Weishar has recruited his entire Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team to sign autographs and walk the red carpet, which also will feature musicians and other celebrities plus raffles including footballs signed by the ’85 Chicago Bears as part of the platinum ticket for $249.
The all-ages WeishFest also will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Chicago Bears’ Super Bowl win with a performance by the Chicago 6 Band featuring Dan Hampton, Otis Wilson and Steve McMichael along with Dennis McKinnon serving as host.
“All of the Bears players give back,” Hampton, the Hall of Fame defensive tackle known as “Danimal,” said by phone in between events for Special Olympics and Habitat for Humanity. “We are very thankful Christian people who realize we were given such a great fortune to play the game and a healthy body. The Weishar family realizes the burdens these families have. When we were given the call they wanted us to be part of WeishFest, I was ecstatic because it’s such a great cause and for all the right reasons.”
The Chicago 6 Band, which opened for Eddie Money in 2014 in St. Charles, features Hampton, McMichael and Wilson swapping lead vocals and Hampton playing bass. The band — rounded out by Chicago musicians John McFarland (M&R Rush), Matt Kammerer and Ed Kammerer (The Dancing Noodles) – practices regularly at Hampton’s southwest suburban home and plays about 15 gigs each year, including Taste of Chicago this month.
“When we perform, I want it to be right,” said Hampton, who formed the band during the 1987 strike and revived it two years ago. “Music is art. Football was easy, second nature.”
Attendees can expect to hear an eclectic hour-long set, including a version of “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” and classic rock and Motown favorites with lyrics altered slightly to razz the guys, such as changing Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall” to “Another Ditka Bad Call.”
“We’re at a point where this is really cool ’cause although it’s been a while since the Bears won the Super Bowl a lot of people still find a great deal of joy in the spirit of the team so in a way we’re still bringing smiles and kicks,” Hampton said.
WeishFest drew 2,400 attendees in 2013. Organizers are hoping to reach the baseball stadium’s capacity of 8,000 this year.
“We have big shoes to fill in honoring Andrew’s name so in order to do that we created something big and different where the community comes together for one incredible day,” said Danny Weishar, who serves as executive director of the foundation, which receives referrals from social workers at Advocate Children’s Hospital in Oak Lawn and the Cancer Support Center in Homewood, where families like the Santiagos can attend free counseling, support groups and even art classes.
“Cancer put a stop on my son’s life, but the Weishar family is a blessing,” said Michelle Santiago, adding that neither she nor her husband, also named Pascual “Pops” Santiago, have health insurance through their employment, her as a medical office assistant, and he, a former union carpenter, as the pitching coach for the Joliet Slammers and head baseball coach at Olive–Harvey College on Chicago’s far South Side. COBRA ran out and they’ve lost homes.
“The stereotype is you have insurance and they do enough, but it’s not the case, unfortunately,” Weishar said. “Cancer is a huge financial burden, from little things like gas to get to treatments to hotel stays or special dieting needs. The foundation is a vehicle to lift the burden off these family’s shoulders and give them some normalcy.”
The young “Pops” Santiago, a highly unlikely candidate for liver transplant, undergoes a biopsy on July 17. If he feels well enough afterward, he will attend WeishFest with family and friends.
“We’ve lost back-to-back parents due to cancer the past several years,” his mom said, “but he’s my baby.”
Vickie Jurkowski is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
WeishFest
When: noon to midnight July 18
Where: Standard Bank Stadium, 14011 Kenton Ave. in Crestwood
Schedule: Strung Out at noon; C2 & the Brothers Reed at 1:25 p.m.; Sean & Charlie at 2:40 p.m.; Mike & Joe at 4 p.m.; Celebrity red carpet at 5 p.m.; Hunter Smith Band at 5:25 p.m.; Chicago 6 Band at 6:50 p.m.; Warrant at 8:55 p.m.; Eddie Money at 10:25 p.m. and fireworks at 11:45 p.m.
Tickets: $25 and up; available at the stadium box office (open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays), by phone at 708-489-2255 and online at weishfest.com.
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Parking: $5
Information: weishfest.com, weish4ever.org and caringbridge.org.
Etc.: Open to all ages; re-entry allowed.