The Creekside Cares sewing team has continued making masks for our greater community. As of today, we have donated hundreds to the Interfaith Food Shuttle, DPS Foundation, North Carolina Bureau of Prisons, Wilson Community Hospital, and several dialysis centers and clinics in the area. The team has sewn and delivered 1,824 masks and more be donated each day.

We have received many requests to purchase masks, but we are only donating to our Creekside residents, first responders, and essential workers. We feel we can't put a price on such a priceless gift. Please be reminded the masks are not a replacement for social distancing. Please follow all local, state and federal guidelines and laws. The CDC is your most reliable source of information regarding COVID-19.

Our dedicated team has just begun answering a new challenge to provide 3 masks to each firefighter per shift at the Durham Fire Department. In less than 24 hours, we created 120 masks for 40 firefighters. We will continue to cut, sew and deliver as long as we can! Thanks to everyone who has worked tirelessly to keep our community covered!

Creekside is a magical community. On March 20, 2020, we formulated a plan to sew masks for healthcare workers in our community who might find themselves without personal protective equipment. Our local media had announced there might be a need. Our team quickly mobilized, ordered supplies, donated fabric and began cutting fabrics. We sewed and sewed and sewed! We delivered masks to local first-responders, clinics, essential business employees and to the children of residents who were working in the healthcare field.

After it became clear that our local hospitals would not be able to accept donations of handmade masks, we quickly redirected our efforts and decided to provide a mask to every resident of Creekside. The sewing continued, elastic was trimmed and deliveries began. During the initial stages of our project, the CDC issued a new recommendation.

The CDC recommends wearing cloth face coverings in public settings where other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain (e.g., grocery stores and pharmacies) especially in areas of significant community-based transmission.

This recommendation energized our volunteers. As of today, April 6, we completed 924 masks for 457 homes within our community. It's wonderful to be part of such a caring community. We are doing our part to flatten the curve. Of course, we continue to urge everyone to follow all local, state and federal guidelines as issued by authorities. Stay safe everyone.

If you received a mask, please be reminded to wash it before using. Masks cannot prevent COVID 19, but them may help prevent the spread. Each mask was sewn by a Creekside volunteer.