ELBRIDGE — Emily Mocyk’s home is filled with fleece. Whether buying from a local sale or receiving donations from community members, Mocyk is collecting for a cause. She’s on track to be one of the first female Eagle Scouts in the district, and the last piece to the puzzle is completing a community service project.
While coming up with an idea, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to commemorate her former classmate, Nathan Wagner. Wagner lost a three-year battle to cancer last year.
He spent a lot of time at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. Keeping all that in mind, Mocyk came up with “Project 22.” She’s creating fleece blankets to be donated to patients at Upstate Golisano, using 22 as a tribute to Wagner, who sported the number on his lacrosse jersey.
Mocyk said she spent some time in the hospital when she was a child. One memory that stuck with her was picking out a donated blanket. Her choice, with a pattern of green monkeys, was cherished throughout her childhood.
“It seemed full circle to be able to do something for Nate that also means something to me and my family,” she said.
For Wagner’s family, the idea also seemed fitting. Mocyk reached out to them before finalizing her idea, and they told her Wagner hated the hospital blankets.
“Knowing Nate is with me throughout this journey is amazing,” Mocyk said. “He deserves the best, and I’m determined to make this project the best for him, in his memory.”
Now that she’s got the supplies, Mocyk sought help putting the pieces together and she found it from her community.
She recently hosted a project day at Elbridge Community Church, across from Elbridge Elementary, on Saturday, March 27.
“When I first announced the project, I was hoping to make 50 blankets,” she said. “Now, I’ll be surprised if I make fewer than 150.”
Mocyk is working with non-profit Project Linus.
She’ll drop off the finished blankets to them, where they will be sanitized, then brought to the hospital for distribution.
Submitted photo
Jordan-Elbridge student Emily Mocyk decided to honor her classmate Nate Wagner who passed after a battle with cancer last year, by making fleece blankets for patients at Upstate Golisano.
