OAKLAND PARK – Since moving to Florida seven years ago, Carol Stuyvesant has been a one-woman quilt factory for charity.

Her most recent donation was to Lutheran Services Florida’s Lippman Youth Shelter in Oakland Park. Ms. Stuyvesant and her husband John Johnson delivered 17 handmade quilts and blankets to the shelter.

As staff members carefully unpacked and admired each quilt, several were laid out on the children’s beds to await their return from school that day.

The shelter staff and residents recognize how special Ms. Stuyvesant’s gifts are.

“Carol’s quilts and blankets provide that special touch to create the homelike environment we try to maintain for the kids,” said Elke Simmons, Director of Clinical Services for LSF’s Southeast Region. “But the love and caring that is stitched into each inch of her creations adds something that the best store-bought comforter cannot contain.”

The shelter offers housing for up to 20 youth and has a turnover rate of about two children per month. The youth stay anywhere from a few weeks to many months. When the children leave the shelter, they get to keep their quilts, which means the shelter is in need of a continuing supply. Ms. Stuyvesant is happy to keep up with the demand.

“Without any children of my own, it gives me a great deal of pleasure to be creating for children,” she said.

“Carol’s creations are so personally and lovingly crafted that the kids sometimes think that the quilts they see when they first come to the shelter already belong to someone else,” Ms. Simmons said. When they realize the quilts are theirs to keep, they’re amazed.

Most of Ms. Stuyvesant’s quilt creations are based on quilt-making instructions she found on the website of Lutheran World Relief. She has made more than 200 quilts for LWR in the last few years that have been distributed around the world.

The quilts follow a simple pattern of 48 squares, each 10 inches by 10 inches. This makes a twin size quilt. Along with batting and backing fabric, usually a twin size bed sheet, she sews the squares together for the front and then ties the front and back together with crochet thread.

Ms. Stuyvesant began sewing at the age of seven. She excelled in sewing while in the 4-H program in her hometown of Long Island, New York. In college, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in home economics. Although she became a registered dietitian, she never gave up on sewing. While she and her husband lived in California, they worked together designing and making a full set of processional banners for their church.

The Lippman Shelter offers temporary housing for youth ages 10 to 17. The children may be there for truancy or ungovernable behavior or they may be escaping abusive situations or neglect at home. The goal of LSF’s youth shelters is to reunite families through both individual and family counseling.

Lutheran Services Florida is a statewide, nonprofit human services agency dedicated to helping all people in need regardless of religious affiliation, age or national origin. Headquartered in Tampa, the agency has more than 60 programs located throughout Florida. Since it was established in 1982, LSF has helped more than 800,000 children and families. LSF’s mission is to bring God’s healing, hope and help to people in need.