A Jewish family in Houston, Texas, is collecting kippahs, also known as yarmulkes, and converting them into face masks to help protect the homeless population in their hometown.

Teen brothers Matthew and Jeremy Jason volunteer every Friday in downtown Houston with the organization Food Not Bombs, a non-profit that feeds the hungry in over 1,000 cities in 65 countries. One Friday night after the COVID-19 pandemic started, the Jason family gathered for Shabbat dinner and brainstormed the idea of turning their religious skullcaps into face masks for the area’s homeless population, Matthew explained in a YouTube video.

The family has collected many kippahs from various special occasions over the years and “we decided to put them to good use,” Matthew, a high school sophomore and the youngest of three brothers, told the Good News Network.

The siblings asked their synagogue, Congregation Brith Shalom, to help collect kippahs, and a drive-thru collection box was set up at the temple so congregants could drop off their extra yarmulkes. The family is calling their campaign “Kippahs to the Rescue.”

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To convert the yarmulkes into face masks, the family started by sewing 6-inch elastic strips on both sides of a kippah that can be then placed around the ears. They later switched to using clips because it is faster and the masks are just as strong.

“In less than a week we were able to collect enough of them to make 160 face masks,” Matthew said. “My parents, brothers and I worked very hard to sew elastic bands on them… It was so great to see how I was able to help out, and people were so appreciative.”

Congregation Brith Shalom continues to collect donated kippahs and the Jason family has already amassed nearly 700 yarmulkes and turned over 300 into face masks. Matthew hopes people will implement the idea in their own communities.

“There’s a lot of people out there that really need help,” he said, “and anything can help even in the smallest way.”

Matthew has also been helping his community’s homeless population in another way. For his bar mitzvah project two years ago he launched Street Birthday Parties, and each month the teen still hosts a birthday party with cake and candles for the area’s homeless.