We hosted our first build day with Habitat for Humanity. Our volunteers learned a lot and enjoyed the work. We now have a build day every month. See our SignUp Genius for details. Thanks to all our volunteers. You are bringing affordable housing to our community. 

We are sending out a gigantic thank you to everyone who volunteered and donated! We collected $1,680 in cash and over 6,000 individual back-to-school items for local students. This is our first year partnering with Durham Children's Initiative on this event. We are excited to broaden our community reach and DCI build pathways to equity. Our event was co-chaired this year by board members, Hope Smith and Sherry Wanner-Dolan. We had an extraordinary team of volunteers who served on our collection box, sorting and delivery teams. 

All Creekside residents are welcome to join us. Please visit ClubExpress to learn more. 

We received a lovely note from Julianne Reas, Gardens for Everyone Project Coordinator. How wonderful to see the tools that were purchased with funds we raised here in Creekside. The Gardens for Everyone project helps residents in the Triangle build raised-bed garden boxes. They provide support from seed to harvest. They have built over 110 boxes. This program enables families to have healthy food all year long. Thanks to everyone who donated. 

On May 24, seven Creekside Cares volunteers joined forces with four Fayetteville Street Elementary staff members to set up the school’s new outdoor education area. Thanks to the generosity of the Durham Public Schools Foundation, the school had received a $19,500 grant to purchase 18 steel picnic tables and 10 freestanding benches. After assembling one table and one bench, the staff realized that the remaining work was going to be more than they could manage. They reached out to Triangle Grace Church, which has had a long relationship with the school. Sue Bradley, a member of both Triangle Grace and Creekside Cares, offered to find Creekside volunteers to do the work. One email later, six men had stepped up to help. Work that would have taken the staff several days of hard labor was completed in three hours. Now, the students can enjoy having some of their classes outdoors in the shaded area alongside the school. ​

Creekside at Bethpage is full of caring residents and neighbors. Our community is beautiful on the inside and the out. We wanted to shine a spotlight on a dedicated group of  volunteers who are working to beautify and enhance our community. The garden and bulb planters are an off-shoot of the disbanded landscaping committee. With seed money from the HOA, the group planted bulbs at our front entrance including daffodils, hyacinths, and day lilies.

Members of the group include Terry Billie, Joanne Cella, Eileen Waszkiewicz, Andrew Pettigrew, Jan Jarrett, Kathleen Boyd, Maryann Smith, Karen Finnegan Meyers, Patricia Muldowney, Marie Serrine, Jennifer Srivastava, JoAnn Atwater, Amy Chambless, Rosana Hartley Lisa Leifer, Paul Leifer, Alice Bayne and Anita Mendat Cabacar. 

The group has plans to purchase and plant pollinators that will bloom through the summer. The group hopes the plantings will attract pollinators including butterflies, bees and hummingbirds. The group welcomes more volunteers. Watch for additional information on ClubExpress and on the Creekside Talk and Creekside Neighbors Facebook Groups that are open to Creekside residents.

Creekside is a very caring community and we couldn't let this kindness go unnoticed.

We were very excited to be contacted by Dress for Success. They had heard about our good works with the Durham Children's Initiative and wanted to explore a partnership. We shared our current mask-making project with them and they were excited to learn about our efforts. After discussion, it was determined this project would be very beneficial to their clients.

Women have been hit very hard by the pandemic and the economic downturn. Dress for Success (DFS) helps their clients obtain employment and economic independence through empowerment, training and free professional attire. Each DFS client will now receive a set of 2 Olson style masks created by Creekside Cares volunteers. The sets will include 1 Black and 1 Navy adjustable contour mask, 4 washable, removable filters, and 2 aluminum nose strips to help her stay safe.

Women served by DFS are often the sole breadwinners in their families. By keeping them protected, we will be helping to keep their families, our community, and our economy protected.  We hope these brave women will be going places, going strong, and going safe! Learn more about DFS Triangle at their website. We hope to conduct a clothing drive for them in the near future. Stay tuned!

Thanks to our caring volunteers who braved cold weather to help distribute school supplies, food and clothing to our families at W.G. Pearson Elementary. It was a rare treat to see (behind masks) our favorite scholars, their families and staff at our adopted school W.G. Pearson. Lots of families participated and went home with supplies and well wishes for learning during these challenging times.

We hope things will return to normal very soon. We received this nice note from the school:
We just wanted to say "thank you" to Creekside Cares for assisting us with the remote learning kit and food distribution on yesterday! It was a big success as we had a lot of parents to drive up, and your volunteers were tremendous!! Your help in setting up a SignUp Genius on short notice made all the difference. 
We look forward to getting back to somewhat of a normalcy as soon as allowed. Community support and schools go hand in hand, and we appreciate everything you all do to assist us at WG! We have attached a few pictures for you to share and your records. Thank you again, we will talk soon.
Delbert Jarmon, W.G. Pearson Elementary
 

Thank you to the entire community for your support of our our Creekside Cares Helps Feed Our Community Campaign. Your generosity is mind-blowing. The Creekside at Bethpage community raised $3,000 total during our 7 day popup campaign. Our Creekside Cares Vice President, Paul Leifer delivered the final $2,000 this morning. With the current doubling campaign at Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, our gifts will be $6,000. 
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Please be reminded Larry and Scarlett Wilson will continue their collections on their porch at 1016 Cadence. The box on Larry and Scarlett's porch accepts both non-perishable food items and check donations. Since they began their collection 10 months ago, they have collected and delivered in excess of $5,130 to Inter-Faith Food Shuttle along with mountains of food. Their work at the Windsor Springs Senior Facility will continue. As this giving season ends, we know the needs of many will not end. We encourage you to visit Larry and Scarlett's collection box when you can!
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It's very exciting that we have two wonderful partnerships in our community with Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. Creekside Cares hopes to resume our Backpack Buddy and Food Box stuffing programs soon. We can't wait to resume our weekly Backpack Buddy distribution at WG Pearson Elementary. Meeting the kids we were were helping was especially heartwarming. 
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Please allow your Creekside Cares board to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. We are praying that the New Year 2021 will be better. We are certain our big-hearted community will continue to come together. Thanks for helping us show the world #CreeksideCares.
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Thank you for a successful Holiday Zone 2020! We began collecting in our Creekside neighborhood  on November 9, and and made our final delivery on Monday, December 7. We collected gifts, toys, tape, wrapping paper and batteries for the children and families served by the Durham Children's Initiative. They needed our help more than ever. We were able to deliver literally hundreds upon hundreds of items and we also donated $1,215 in cash, checks and gift cards.

Your support helped us bring some holiday joy to our community! We helped the Durham Children's Initiative serve 170 families and approximately 500 children! Each family received gifts, wrapping paper and a $50 gift card to Food Lion. Thank you to everyone who participated and volunteered. This community is a generous and giving one!