News

Summer of Community Service at the DFC

We are proud to showcase some of the wonderful ways that Duke Faculty Club members and staff served the local community this past summer.

Flood Recovery

Tropical Storm Chantal touched down in the afternoon of Sunday, July 6 and devastated many areas and neighborhoods in Durham and Chapel Hill. The Eno Valley Swim & Racquet Club and the Chapel Hill Tennis Club were particularly hard hit by flood waters. The DFC staff immediately reached out to both clubs and coordinated various efforts to help in their recovery and assist their members in continuing fun summer activities.

Eno Valley’s property was completely submerged by flood waters, and they worked all summer to repair their facilities. The DFC helped Eno members in a variety of ways:

We accommodated campers in our own tennis camp sessions;
We hosted “Eno Nights at the Pool” for several weeks;
We invited Eno Valley tennis pros to hold evening clinics on our courts for two nights per week throughout July and August.

“The generosity of DFC during our recovery effort has made an immense difference. Thank you so much!” – Joe Gonzalez, Eno Valley Board Member

Chapel Hill Tennis Club also suffered significant water and debris damage to their pool as well as their indoor and outdoor tennis courts. We offered 25 daily pool passes to their members for several weeks.

These tragic events showed us how strong and resilient the Durham / Chapel Hill community is, with many people stepping up without hesitation to volunteer time, share facilities, and offer donations. We are happy to report that Eno Valley was able to open their club for two days in August before the summer season ended.

Ronald McDonald House

One of our tennis and pickleball members organized a group of "DFC Volunteers" to serve dinner to 60 guests at the Durham Ronald McDonald House. Many of these families had spent their day at Duke Hospitals while their children were receiving treatment. Donations were collected to cover the food costs. We hope to organize future visits for our members and staff in the coming year.

Back to School Food Drive

The Club collected food donations this past August to support PORCH-Durham, a local grassroots food assistance organization that holds monthly food drives in over 40 neighborhoods across Durham County. Last year, nearly 40,000 pounds of food were donated, and all of that food (as well as monetary donations) stays right in Durham to fight food insecurity.

“I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for the Duke Faculty Club’s partnership with PORCH-Durham. Thanks to your support, we collected 94 lbs. of food, which translates to approximately $180 in food assistance provided to families in need across the Durham community” – Bart Smith, PORCH-Durham Board Member and DFC Member

Children’s Book Drive

During the months of May and June, members dropped off children’s books outside the DFC office to support Book Harvest, a Durham-based literacy non-profit whose mission is to ensure that all kids grow up in book-rich homes. In 2023, an average of 4,500 books left their office each week to land in children’s homes across the Triangle.

Swim for Charlie

For the second year in a row, DFC has hosted the Swim for Charlie program, and Hillendale Elementary School, in our main pool during the first two weeks of September. This wonderful program partners with North Carolina elementary schools and area aquatic centers to transport second graders during the school day for critical water safety and swimming instruction. We loved watching the students conquer their fears to learn new and important life skills.