Gulf Coast comfort from 93-year-old’s more than 100 handmade quilts
Springfield, Mo. - The small town of Lisbon, N. D. is more than 1,500 miles away from the Gulf Coast, but neither distance nor age can keep 93-year-old Estelle Olson from sharing love with the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
In the year that has passed since Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Gulf Coast, Olson has made more than 100 quilts for the survivors. These handmade quilts not only provide warmth for people who lost virtually everything, but they are a tangible reminder of the many people across this country that are still thinking and praying for those in the Gulf Coast.
When the hurricane hit, Olson says she continually thought, “What can I do to help those poor people?” However it wasn’t until Oct. when she decided how she could best make a difference in the Gulf Coast. Olson knew of a woman in her retirement community who had a trunk filled with unused quilting material. When Olson heard about the material she asked herself, “What is that material doing in a trunk when it could be helping people?”
With that question, Olson’s vision was born. She began making quilts for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina, and though she encouraged other women to help, could find no one to join her cause. But the steadfast and optimistic Olson continued to sew, even though she was unsure how the precious gifts would be transported to the Gulf Coast victims.
“I was not concerned about how to get them there, I knew God would make a way,” she says. Olson eventually made contact with a local doctor who was sponsoring a bedding drive for people in Ala. and a Gulf Coast volunteer team from Fargo, N.D. These groups were able to deliver Olson’s first 60 quilts. As months passed, the queen-sized quilts she continued to make began accumulating and she ran out of room to make more, so Olson enlisted her daughter to find someone who could transport them to the Gulf.
Olson’s daughter had heard about Convoy of Hope and the organization’s ongoing work in the Gulf Coast. Immediately, Olson knew that this was the way she wanted to distribute the rest of her quilts. Volunteers working with Convoy of Hope recently traveled to Olson’s home to pick up 40 more quilts that will be distributed in Gautier, Miss.
While Olson has not heard many stories from the recipients of her handmade gifts, she has been able to correspond with one woman. The woman was at the bedding distribution site in Ala., but had not made it through the line before all the quilts had been distributed. She was so disappointed that she wrote a letter to Olson, requesting a quilt of her own. After learning more about the woman’s situation, Olson sent her a quilt by priority mail. The woman, who has now relocated to La., writes occasionally to Olson, sharing details of the ongoing process to rebuild her life after the hurricane.
Besides one $40 donation, Olson has not received outside funds to help with the costs. She is hoping that as word of her quilt making spreads, more people will be motivated to help support her work, which is touching hundreds of lives in the Gulf Coast.
When Olson was a young, newly married woman, she says she made her own quilts out of economic necessity. Now, she is compelled by the needs of others to continue quilting, making sure that the finished products are attractive, quality pieces that will be an example of love to the recipients. Though Olson says some close to her have doubted the impact of her quilts, she stands firm in her mission, stating, “We are our brothers’ keepers and we must help them when we can.”
For more information:
Jeff Nene, COH Media Director, mobile 417/860-2196
http://www.convoyofhope.org
For more than ten years, Convoy of Hope(tm), a nonprofit organization, has provided resources to organizations and churches to meet physical and spiritual needs for the purpose of making the community a better place. This is accomplished through domestic and international outreaches, supply lines, and disaster response.