When Jeff Burrows saw the story of a 13-year-old Windsor boy suffering from Stage 4 lymphoma on social media, he knew he had to help.
Burrows, the drummer for the Tea Party, works for LiUNA 625 now, so he got to work organizing a fundraising event to help Kaleb Houle and his family.
"This last little while was quite rough," said Burrows who notes Kaleb was sick for four years. "There's the Ronald McDonald House, but then there's the travel costs, and babysitting costs, and the hotel costs when the Ronald McDonald House is not available, and gasoline, and the bills keep going while they're not at home."
Kaleb also had a rare type of lymphoma that usually affects only adults over the age of 60. When Burrows met him, he had just undergone his fourth round of chemotherapy and was trying to get well enough to Car-T cell therapy. Had he undergone the immunotherapy, Burrows said he would have been the youngest recipient in Canada.
Unfortunately, he passed away over the weekend.
On Friday, "Rockin' for Kaleb" will help the family with the financial costs it has incurred. The all-ages event will feature six local bands including Leave Those Kids Alone, The Van Lares, and Family Soul. Doors at Rock Star Music Hall on Central Ave. open at 5 p.m. and tickets are $25 at the door.
However, Burrows has already been seeking donations through an online campaign called "Kaleb's Kourage" for the past five weeks.
"I thought well, there's people that will not be able to make it," he said. "So I knew that if I put out a fundraiser, we might be able to raise a couple extra thousand dollars. We are sitting at just over $50,000. We're pretty excited about that part at least."
The online campaign will continue until December 22.