Photo: Jodi Crandell
Like many people from New Jersey, Wesley Beco loved pizza — in his case, he loved it so much that he’d always wanted to work in a pizzeria.
Before the summer of 2020, Wesley had planned to apply to a summer job at his favorite pizzeria, Sam’s Pizza in Paterson. But that July, tragedy struck when he was diagnosed with a germ cell tumor. The disease progressed rapidly. In June of 2021, Wesley died at age 22.
For one day last summer, Wesley joined the staff at Sam’s Pizza, whose owner, Mohamad Abushaar, schooled Wesley on the finer points of the craft like opening the dough, spreading the sauce evenly and sprinkling on the cheese. According to a Jay Fund press release, Wesley was precise and methodical in every aspect of his life — qualities that lend themselves to making pizza, where the proportions have to be exact.
Abushaar tells PEOPLE that Wesley’s shift happened to coincinde with a very busy day — including a lunch hour in which a customer ordered 10 pizzas. Wesley’s positive energy calmed everyone down, Abushaar says.
Wesley Beco.Jodi Crandell
“He was really pleasant to work with,” Abushaar tells PEOPLE. “He was very excited to learn. It was a happy day — you could see it in his eyes.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
The Jay Fund was founded in 1996, and since then, it has provided approximately $15 million to more than 5,000 families with children suffering from cancer in the New York City and Jacksonville, Florida areas, where Coughlin coached the NFL’s New York Giants and Jacksonville Jaguars.
The charity is named afterJay McGillis, a college football player who played under Coughlin when he coached Boston College in the early 1990s. Before McGillis died of leukemia in 1992, Coughlin saw the emotional and financial toll the cancer diagnosis took on McGillis' loved ones — and became determined to help families in that situation.
Wesley’s parents — mother Ana Sanchez and father William Beco — were present at Sam’s for his shift. Summing up the day, Sanchez, in the Jay Fund video, said, “It’s very special to make my son’s dream come true.”
For more information or to learn more about the Tom Coughlin Jay Fund Foundation, visittcjayfund.organd follow onFacebook,TwitterandInstagram.
source: people.com
