(LE MARS, IA) Have you ever seen an old doll collecting dust on a shelf at your local thrift store?
Well, the next time you do, don't be so quick to overlook it, because it deserves a second chance at changing the life of a child.
"I love dolls, so that was kind of my thing," says doll seamstress Donna Lucken.
For the past two months, Lucken has been hunched over her sewing machine in what she calls "the operating room", experimenting with a new hobby.
"I didn't get a lot of dolls, so every doll I had was really special to me and I'm just amazed at the dolls that people discard that are in such good shape and everything, and I just think it's sad if you don't do something with these dolls," says Lucken.
So she buys them from thrift stores, like Goodwill, sometimes for only a dollar, and with a needle and thread she turns the dolls into beauty queens.
"I started out making real simple clothes, but then started thinking, they really ought to have party dresses so then that takes three or four hours sometimes to make one party dress," she says.
Patching together patterns with scraps of sequenced shirts and donated materials, she stitches together a masterpiece for a child in need.
"It's one of those things that started out, I'm thinking well I'm going to help some little girls," she says. "But it ended up, it' just been a blessing for me."
And a blessing for her family, because it meant Donna had enough energy to focus on the little things.
"You know I get busy I don't think about myself, I don't think about the cancer. I just think about the dolls and the little girls." says Lucken.
Almost two years ago, she was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. With the diagnosis weighing heavy on her mind, Donna's daughter suggested she fill her time with a simple task she loved to do.
"My daughter told me about two little girls that she knew that really needed dolls, so I bought two dolls and made doll clothes for them and I thought this is fun, and it's something I can do" she says.
After five months of intense chemo, Donna is officially a cancer survivor using her second chance to give these second-hand dolls a shot at a new life.
"My husband tells me that he thinks it's going to be a sad day when they leave because I do get kind of attached to them, you know," Donna says. "But on the other hand, it's going to make me feel good, because I think, 'O. K. I can start all over again for next year.'"
Donna has more than 100 dolls ready to go and plans on donating them to Siouxland children in need just in time for the holidays. She's always looking for supplies or used dolls, so if you would like to donate, give her a call: her number is 712-548-5226
Hleigh@Siouxlandnews.com
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