Last wish: Pay it forward

Notre Dame football tight end Nic Weishar (MSF ’19, FIN ‘18) lost his older brother Andrew to cancer on Oct. 12, 2012. Andrew was just 21.

Nic Weishar

The night before he died, Nic said, Andrew called the family together and said, “The one thing I want out of this is to pay forward the kindness and generosity I’ve been shown.”

“That’s why we started the Andrew Weishar Foundation,” said Nic, a 2019 Master of Science in Finance candidate at Mendoza College of Business. He earned a finance degree at Notre Dame in 2018.

The foundation raises money to provide support and financial relief to families with young adults and adolescents battling cancer. Each year, the family holds a music festival, “WeishFest,” to raise money. The foundation has granted more than $650,000 so far.

The 2017 Weishfest was headlined by Third Eye Blind. Nic took to the stage to thank his Notre Dame teammates for turning out to support the effort. “Just know that every dollar that you spend tonight is going directly to a family that needs it,” he told the crowd.

The 2018 event will take place Dec. 1 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois.

For Nic, playing for Notre Dame is an opportunity to be with people he loves at a place he loves. It’s also an opportunity to serve.

“Being a student-athlete is very time consuming, but I think being a high-profile person that kids and everyone in the community looks up to, it is our duty to be able to give back to them and show them how much we appreciate them,” he said.

Learn more about Nic Weisher and the Andrew Weisher Foundation in this Chicago Tribune story or WatchND video.