MCALESTER, Okla. (AP) - Cancer is a cruel beast, and when it bites it can leave its victims feeling cold, isolated and unloved.
McAlester high school senior Sydney Creager decided to try and help fight back, and she lifted her crochet needles to do so, the McAlester News-Capital (https://bit.ly/1vlRtrV ) reported.
Creager is the founder of Covered by Love, a nonprofit organization that hand-knits hats, lapghans, shawls and scarves for local cancer patients. She coordinates donations, oversees the work of eight volunteers, and manages the finances and supplies.
Covered by Love originated when Sydney was crocheting with her mother, Margie Creager, and realized they had an abundance of hats the two would never use. She wanted to put them to good use. Cancer patients, specifically those going through chemotherapy, came to mind.
“I wanted to give the hats away so I decided, well if I was going through chemo and lost my hair I would still want to feel pretty, but I know that would be hard, so I was like why don’t we do cancer patients?” Creager said. “My goal was just so people could feel that they were thought of, and prayed for and loved even though I don’t know them personally.”
Creager’s Christian faith is important to her and it affects many aspects of her life. She volunteers Wednesday nights at the Mercy clinic and every other Monday night mentoring middle school students through Young Life.
“Everything I do I hope it shows God’s light, not mine,” Creager said.
There is a real faith aspect to Covered in Love as well.
“We try to pray over all of the items we give. We pray over them that they (the people) would feel the figurative warmth God can give them along with the literal warmth it will give them,” Creager said.
Creager will attend Oklahoma State University next fall and plans on studying biochemistry. She hope to attend medical school with the dream of someday working in pediatrics. As she prepares to leave McAlester she doesn’t foresee any reason Covered by Love can’t continue on in her absence.
“I hope to have teenagers that are as in love as I am with the medical field, or even not with the medical field and just want to help, that they could help me keep this going. Then when I come down I can help, and hopefully I’ll come back to McAlester after I get my degree and work here so then hopefully I can just keep that going,” Creager said.
If she becomes Dr. Creager she may someday help the sick in McAlester with treatments in medicine. Until then Sydney will be providing comfort with yarn, crochet needles and a whole lot of heart.
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Information from: McAlester News-Capital, https://www.mcalesternews.com
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