LIFESTYLE

Reaching out to others fits her like a . . . mitten

Katherine Hawes
Marcia Hepner of Galva is about to reach a milestone – crocheting her 700th pair of mittens. Considering that she only began making them five years ago at the age of 67, her achievement is quite remarkable. What does she do with all of those mittens? Each pair is donated to Operation Christmas Child (OCC), which annually provides gift-filled shoe boxes to needy children around the world. It is an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse, the nondenominational Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham. Hepner became involved with the program through her church, Galva Assembly of God, which serves as the area relay center for OCC. Tonya Pike, a member of the church who coordinates the local box collection, encouraged her fellow parishioners to be a part of the process. Hepner decided to make mittens for the children. “I love to crochet,” she said, “and thought I would help out that way. “ Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 61 million boxes around the world. Hundreds of those have contained children’s mittens lovingly created by Hepner using a pattern her sister sent her in 2004. Prior to that she had only crocheted afghans and other large items. After a week of trial and error, she mastered the mitten pattern and made 69 single-color pairs the first year. Today she makes multi-colored mittens in three sizes for children from four to 14 years old. Hepner’s mitten ministry did not begin until seven years after she retired as an Annawan grade school teacher. Since then, she has also earned an accounting certificate from Black Hawk College, served as her church’s bookkeeper, worked for an accounting firm, and began teaching an adult Sunday school class. “I don’t think education is ever a done deal,” Hepner remarked. The crocheting is time-consuming but meaningful to Hepner. It takes her about two hours to crochet one mitten. She commits a great deal of energy to it, striving to make one mitten a day. To accomplish this goal, Hepner brings her yarn almost everywhere she goes, from doctor appointments to camping. Her favorite place to crochet, though, is on her back patio. “To me, it’s just a work for the Lord. Not anything I ever wanted recognition for,” she said. Pike noted that Hepner is “a wonderful crocheter” who is “blessed” through her ministry. As Hepner continues creating mittens, Pike is preparing to kick off the 2009 Operation Christmas Child collection season this July. A coalition of Galva churches will again help provide gift boxes containing toys, hygiene items, school supplies and more. Donations from Altona, Bradford and Kewanee will also be brought to Galva for processing. Pike and her team of volunteers will prepare the shipment for delivery to Peoria in November. Last fall, 694 shoe boxes were collected locally for OCC. From Peoria, the boxes travel to Minneapolis for final packaging. They are then sent to children around the world, including countries in Eastern Europe. Hepner indicated that some of her mittens have gone to children in extremely cold climates, such as Russia and Siberia, where they are sorely needed. Although she currently has a full supply of yarn, Hepner would gladly accept contributions to her cause. She typically purchases yarn on sale, finds it at yard sales, or requests it as gifts from family members. Skeins of regular acrylic yarn, such as Red Heart brand, would be most appreciated. Donations can be dropped off at her husband’s barber shop, Ron’s Cuts, in Galva. photo by doug boock Marcia Hepner of Galva displays a few of the nearly 700 pairs of mittens she’s crocheted the past five years. Her efforts help keep warm the hands of needy children around the world.

Marcia Hepner of Galva is about to reach a milestone – crocheting her 700th pair of mittens. Considering that she only began making them five years ago at the age of 67, her achievement is quite remarkable.

What does she do with all of those mittens? Each pair is donated to Operation Christmas Child (OCC), which annually provides gift-filled shoe boxes to needy children around the world. It is an outreach of Samaritan’s Purse, the nondenominational Christian relief organization headed by Franklin Graham.

“I love to crochet,” she said, “and thought I would help out that way."

Since 1993, Operation Christmas Child has delivered more than 61 million boxes around the world. Hundreds of those have contained children’s mittens lovingly created by Hepner using a pattern her sister sent her in 2004. Prior to that she had only crocheted afghans and other large items.

After a week of trial and error, she mastered the mitten pattern and made 69 single-color pairs the first year. Today she makes multi-colored mittens in three sizes for children from four to 14 years old.

Hepner’s mitten ministry did not begin until seven years after she retired as an Annawan grade school teacher. Since then, she has also earned an accounting certificate from Black Hawk College, served as her church’s bookkeeper, worked for an accounting firm, and began teaching an adult Sunday school class.

“I don’t think education is ever a done deal,” Hepner remarked.

The crocheting is time-consuming but meaningful to Hepner. It takes her about two hours to crochet one mitten. She commits a great deal of energy to it, striving to make one mitten a day. To accomplish this goal, Hepner brings her yarn almost everywhere she goes, from doctor appointments to camping. Her favorite place to crochet, though, is on her back patio.

“To me, it’s just a work for the Lord. Not anything I ever wanted recognition for,” she said.

For more of this story, see the June 11 Galva News.