Helping from Home

Duke Chapel is collaborating with Duke Divinity School student organizations Prison & Justice Action Committee and La Union Latina, as well as the community initiative Covering the Triangle and Durham’s local government, to provide face-coverings for people in prisons and jails, bus drivers, social workers, seniors, volunteer food distributors, and others. Working with professors, students, community members, and local businesses, this network has distributed more than 1,200 cloth masks over the last two weeks.

*** This is an ongoing project and there is an ongoing need for masks. Please contact the Rev. Breana van Velzen if you are interested in contributing or need a face-covering. ***

One chaplain at a local prison said in response to receiving the face-coverings, “Thank you. These masks have certainly saved my life and countless others.”

The Chapel's participation in the effort began when a congregant and a staff member both contacted Rev. van Velzen on the same day to find out who needed a homemade mask. Working through neighborhood mutual aid groups on social media, Rev. van Velzen was able to identify organizations that needed the masks.

“It was apparent that needs are overwhelming, and people staying at home wanted to show neighborly love,” said Rev. van Velzen. “Sometimes it is not doing what is glorious or visible but doing what is simple but necessary that is the in-breaking of God’s kin-dom.”