‘Zoey Strong’ concert will raise money for Philipsburg teen battling cancer

When Lisa Mock heard one of her teenage neighbors, Zoey Bryan, was battling cancer, she knew she had to do something.

Zoey, a 16-year-old Philipsburg-Osceola High School student with neuroendocrine cancer, learned in May that the disease had spread to her brain, with doctors giving her less than a year to live, according to a post on Facebook.

Mock, whose younger sister Brittany died from leukemia in 2002, reached out to the Bryan family and offered to host a fundraising concert through her organization, The Angel Project.

The “Zoey Strong” Concert will take place on Saturday, July 9 at noon at the Wagon Wheel Amphitheater in Philipsburg. The event will feature five live music performances and a raffle.

“When I do these things, I feel like my little sister’s there and just saying ‘Lisa, you have to help,’” Mock said. “I just had this overwhelming feeling of ‘I have to do something.’”

The concert is a pay-what-you-can with all proceeds going to Bryan and her family. As of Thursday, nearly 300 people have responded to the event on Facebook, and Mock has received 100 donations for the raffle, including items from the Baltimore Ravens.

Mock has worked with the Bryan family since April, and has seen their positive attitude and unending support of Zoey.

Mock described Zoey as a “positive, upbeat girl” in a Facebook post about the event. “A firecracker, and the light in her family’s lives. When I ask others about Zoey, the first thing they do is smile when I say her name.”

This will be the Angel Project’s fifth concert for people with chronic or terminal illnesses. Many of the group’s organizers, including Mock’s cousin Pat Kerfoot, have had their families impacted by cancer or other terminal illnesses.

“All of that devastation gives us a purpose to do what we do,” Mock said.

For more information about the event, visit its Facebook page.