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Duke Retiree Group Celebrates 20 Years

Former Duke staff and faculty formed group to promote volunteerism in Durham  

From left to right, Duke retirees Connie Winstead and Margaret Hodel volunteer in the garden at Lakewood Elementary School. Photo by April Dudash
From left to right, Duke retirees Connie Winstead and Margaret Hodel volunteer in the garden at Lakewood Elementary School. Photo by April Dudash

Under a shady tree at Lakewood Elementary School’s garden, Duke retirees Margaret Hodel and Connie Winstead take a break from pulling weeds and leveling mulch paths after a heavy rainstorm.

In retirement, Hodel and Winstead work at the school garden a few days a week, surrounded by tomato plants as tall as they are, blossoming orange cosmos flowers and the sweet aroma of lavender. As co-chairs of Duke University Retiree Outreach (DURO), they help connect other Duke retirees to volunteer opportunities at Lakewood Elementary in Durham.  

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DURO, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, was started by retired Duke staff and faculty members as a way to promote volunteerism in Durham. Since 1998, members have partnered primarily with Lakewood Elementary School to tutor students, make repairs and paint the school, manage the school garden, and assist with computer and science classes, among other activities. DURO has also started a Backpack Program and sends groceries home with about 25 Lakewood families every Friday during the school year.

“There are a lot of different things to do, so you don’t just have to be a gardener or a computer helper or work with the Backpack Program as a shopper,” said Winstead, a former research data technician with the Duke Chronic Pain Clinic who retired in 2005. “There are all these different ways to volunteer and make a difference.”

Winstead and Hodel, a former lecturer in the Duke Department of Mathematics, are among about 140 DURO members, many of whom live within a half-mile of Lakewood. They also tutor students in literacy and math and said they feel like family when they walk the halls of the school.

“DURO is just part of the Lakewood community,” said La’Kesha Roberts, who has served as principal of Lakewood Elementary School for four years. “It’s part of our school. It’s a constant presence and it’s a consistent presence of people coming back year after year to volunteer their time.”

DURO meets about three times a year at locations on Duke campus and in Durham to discuss upcoming Lakewood projects and to socialize. The organization receives support from the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership, which organizes volunteer projects and programs to benefit neighborhoods and schools close to campus.  

“DURO volunteers are doing this out of their love for Duke, their love for the kids and Durham Public Schools, and their love for Durham,” said Sam Miglarese, director of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. “With that kind of energy, commitment, smarts, and the pride they have in their university and the bond they built together, they are able to continue to bridge the divides between Duke and Durham.”