BURGIN, Ky. (LEX 18) — 12-year-old Lynley Thacker has been helping others for as long as she can remember.
“I started years ago doing Operation Christmas Child at my church where we packed boxes for the kids overseas who may not have as much," says Lynley.
But in 2022, young Lynley decided that she wanted to do more and went to her parents with an idea for 2023.
“So, in January, we collected socks for the homeless. We collected over 350 pairs," Lynley recalls.
Her mother, Julie, was on board. “I thought this would be a great way to go about having a platform. If you need to write a paper at school, nobody else can take that from you. So it’s been very beneficial, not only to the community but to her as well.”
Alright. Mission accomplished, right?
Wrong! It turns out Lynley was just getting started.
“In February, we donated 137 pounds or something like that, to the Ronald McDonald House. In March, we collected 100 boxes of crackers and donated them to the Christian Life Center," Lynley says.
And so it went. April was sticks of deodorant for the needy.
May was backpacks for kids, bottled water in June, school supplies in July, and donations to a scholarship fund in the name of a local teenager who had died.
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Blankets, winter jackets…in all, 10 straight months of giving with the help of her little sister Laykyn and her parents. I wonder if they ever said, ‘Hey, we’re kind of worn out taking all of this stuff to all of these places. '
Lynley laughs at the thought. “Probably, I don’t know. If they did, I probably just disregarded it.”
Julie says not at all. “It was exhausting, but it was totally worth it and I would do it again. It was such a blessing for her and I and I’ve always encouraged my girls to always help others and to try to give back. You never know what someone’s going through, you know.”
After taking a break around the holidays with so much giving happening already, the question now is…what will Lynley do in 2024?
“Well, I haven’t done anything this year, but I probably will eventually end up doing something!”
