Needs of children keep Lyle resident busy turning out garments

Jean Hendrickson, who is one of Bingen Baptist’s congregation that heads up Operation Christmas Child every year, said last year the church’s boxes went to children between the ages of two and 14 in Nepal, the Philippines, and Madagascar.

“They only get one box in their lifetime and a lot of times it’s the only present they’ve ever received,” Hendrickson said.

Every box contains an assortment of items, including a coloring book, spiral notebook, toothpaste, pencils, pens, soap, a comb, candy, toys, stuffed animals, and more.

As former teachers, Hendrickson and her husband, Don, feel providing school supplies in each box is vital.

“School supplies are very important to us because in a lot of those countries you can’t go to school without supplies,” Hendrickson said.

But there is one more item in the boxes from Bingen Baptist Church that makes them extra special.

Mildred Lykens, of Lyle, started by making 211 dresses and tank tops by hand during last year’s Operation Christmas Child effort. This year, she provided 401.

“I guess I’m just thinking of the children while I sew. I’ve seen pictures of children in different countries running around half naked and I feel sympathetic,” Lykens said.

Each dress or tank top Lykens creates with her trusty, 30-year-old Domestic sewing machine is unique and much of the fabric is donated by friends and members of the community. She said she once received a box of sewing supplies from a woman in northern Washington who wanted to support what Lykens is doing, though they have never met.

“I’ve just been blessed with so many generous friends. I take whatever I can get and I’m grateful for it,” Lykens said.

Lykens said she started sewing when she was just eight or nine years old and took classes through 4-H at what is now the Lyle Activity Center growing up.

“I just love to sew and I think God pushed me that way. He knew what I’d be doing,” she said.

Though she enjoys what she does, Lykens said it can come at a cost. Keeping her sewing machine up-to-date and clean costs a pretty penny every time she has to get it serviced.

“This old machine is hanging in there, but I’ve had to have it overhauled once, and that’s expensive. It costs almost as much to do that as to buy a new one, but she’s worth it,” Lykens said.

Though she recently dropped off the dresses and tank tops for this year’s Operation Christmas Child boxes, Lykens has already started pumping out clothing for next year in hopes of providing as many garments as she possibly can as a one-woman show.

“I say prayers for the children while I’m making the clothes and I think of the smiles it might bring when they open the boxes,” Lykens said. “My hope is one day one of them will take a picture of themselves in one of my garments. That would be a thrill to me.”