WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – Nov. 18-25 is National Operation Christmas Child Collection Week, and one Wichita woman is making sure children get a special gift. This year alone, Bennie C. Booth gave away 500 Barbies with handmade dresses.
Bennie volunteered with Operation Christmas Child for five years, and when her health started to decline, she started contributing in a different capacity. For the last seven years, she has made Barbie clothes to donate along with the doll. OCC hits home for Bennie.
“I grew up in poverty,” Booth said. “I know what it’s like to be the only kid in the class that got a coloring book and crayons for Christmas. So I plan on making beautiful dolls so that some child has something very special that their parents cannot afford to buy.”
“She constantly amazes me not only with her strength and her creativity but just with the love that she makes all these things with,” Dawnita Miller, OCC volunteer, said. “She makes them all to give away for children in need, and that just amazes me.”
Bennie has been a part of Wichita Women Artists for 14 years, and they give her fabric, dolls and jewelry. Most of the patterns are Bennie’s original designs.
“I look at a piece of material, and I think, what would I do with this?” Bennie said. “What can I do special that’s different than what I’ve done before? And I just take one piece at a time. Some of these, there’s only one made because a piece of fabric was not big enough to make any more than one. I make coats, as you can see on one of the dolls there. I crochet sweaters, and one of the dolls has a sweater in her hand. Prom dresses, pants, shirts, regular dresses like the black one here, and the ones that have laid out are just ordinary dresses. But the patterns, many of them are the same, but they look different because of the trim.”
When Bennie was in ninth grade, she learned how to sew. Later on, she made Barbie clothes for her kids.
Bennie now works from January to November making Barbie clothes. She has a few women who help her, Renae Taylor and Sandy Green. Bennie spends five to eight hours at her sewing machine every day and will continue to do this as long as she can.
This week, people can bring donations to any drop-off location. The goal is to collect over 31,000 shoebox gifts to send to over 100 countries worldwide.
If you would like to nominate a person or business for Positive Connections, fill out KSN’s online contact form.