During the past year, the Norwalk Senior Center Quilters have handmade some 50 quilts along with booties and other baby items for young women going through a crisis pregnancy at the LivingHelp Center in Downey.

"They're made for the girls who come in and either don't have any means to buy a blanket or they have no baby equipment," Anne M. Bayer, executive director of the center, which provides pregnancy tests, counseling, lifestyle clothing and baby clothes to its clients, told The Tidings. "They may have gotten out of jail or are homeless. Usually, they don't have any means of support.

"So we're trying to help them."

The social service administrator pointed out that the booties, especially, can also serve another, even more crucial, purpose.

"The baby booties we give to girls who are maybe abortion-minded, so they look at those booties every time they think about doing it." she said. "Sometimes it deters them; and sometimes it doesn't.

"But we find when we have to go back and work with them after they've had the abortion, it's easier when they have the booties, because they recognize it was a baby. And if they're feeling like they made a mistake in choosing abortion, then it's easier for them to hold onto something and deal with it."

LivingHelp Center, which has been in operation since 1987, has helped more than 10,000 girls and women in crisis deal with their pregnancies. All services are free, with the facility relying on donors and supporters to keep its doors open. The senior quilters play a crucial role, too.

"These ladies are active, and they're giving to the next generation," Bayer stressed. "So they are definitely helping us."