DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN) — A Durham woman has decided to lend a helping hand to her elderly neighbors as the novel coronavirus threat grows in the Triangle.

Becky Hoeffler works at Duke University and her department is now working from home due to concerns regarding the virus.

On her lunch breaks, she goes grocery shopping.

However, she is not buying groceries for herself. Instead, she is going on grocery runs for her elderly neighbors.

“The idea actually came about when I called my grandfather the other day,” Hoeffler said. “He told me, ‘I’m on my way to the grocery store’ and I was just kind of concerned because he’s 91 and I thought, ‘is there a reason you have to go to the grocery store?'”

Hoeffler was concerned because the elderly are the most at-risk of catching the novel coronavirus.

“So that’s what made me think, maybe I can go grocery shopping for others since I do live in a community that has several senior citizen neighbors,” Hoeffler said.

Hoeffler wants to make sure her elderly neighbors stay healthy and safe and she said doing their grocery shopping is one way to minimize their chance of exposure.

So far Hoeffler has only helped a couple of her neighbors, but she is hoping to help more.

She put a flyer up in her neighborhood to let her neighbors know that she is willing to go do their grocery shopping for them and she is not expecting anything in return.

“Am I excited that I’m probably going to get a sweet loaf of banana bread from my neighbor, Patti, because of this, yes,” Hoeffler said. “Either way though, I think being able to help people and being able to help your neighbor is one of the most American things that you can do. I think utilizing people power is one of the best ways that we can combat the virus.”

Hoeffler has also gone on the Bull City Shares group on Facebook to try to get the word out and to see if anyone needs help.