The Outer Banks Community Foundation awarded a $5,000 grant to Ocracoke Alive and a $11,600 grant to Saltwater Connections this month for projects directly supporting Ocracoke.  In total this month the Community Foundation awarded more than $70,000 in grants to 25 local charities, including nonprofits from Hatteras, Roanoke Island, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Head, Kitty Hawk, and Southern Shores.

Eight nonprofits received competitive Community Enrichment Grants. Two nonprofits, hard-hit by Hurricane Arthur in July, received disaster relief grants. Ocracoke Alive received $5,000 for essential repairs for the historic skipjack Wilma Lee, and Chicamacomico Historical Association (pictured) received $20,000 for essential repairs to the 1911 Life-Saving Station. Both the skipjack and life-saving station were critically damaged by Arthur. Additionally, a new organization, Hatteras Island Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), was awarded $8,525 for disaster preparedness and relief equipment for Hatteras Island.

Two grants were awarded for historic and cultural education projects. Saltwater Connections received $11,600 for the Coastal Voices project, to digitize oral history interviews from Hatteras and Ocracoke. These interviews will be available for download online and will be aired on Hatteras Radio and Ocracoke Community Radio. The Coastal Studies Institute Foundation received $2,700 for a symposium series with the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum highlighting the Outer Banks’s maritime heritage.

In the health and human services category, Room in the Inn was awarded $1,160 for bicycles for homeless men and women. Interfaith Community Outreach was awarded $3,000 for a new website. GEM Adult Day Services received $5,200 for Art at the Park, which brings adults with dementia and their care-givers to parks across the Outer Banks for arts and crafts projects, respite, and relief.

In addition to those Community Enrichment Grants, the Community Foundation also awarded grants from several donor-advised funds, which are funds managed on behalf of donors and families, who recommend the grants that are awarded. The Spencer Family Fund awarded a grant to the Outer Banks Relief Foundation, and the Peregrine and Kaye White Fund awarded grants to Dare Hospice and the Dare County Association of Fire Officers.

The Kelly Family Fund awarded grants to OBX Pride, Holy Family Catholic Church, Father’s Heart Ministries, Outer Banks Relief Foundation, Friends of Jockey’s Ridge, and Alzheimer’s North Carolina. The Dorothy Scott Townsend Fletcher Memorial Fund awarded grants to the Southern Shores Volunteer Fire Department, Kitty Hawk Volunteer Fire Department, Kill Devil Hills Fire Department Auxiliary, Beach Food Pantry, Food for Thought, Interfaith Community Outreach, the Albemarle Commission’s Home-Delivered Meals Program, Outer Banks SPCA, Holy Redeemer by the Sea, and the Town of Southern Shores.

The Community Foundation is currently accepting applications for its Community Enrichment Grants program. The last application deadline of the year is Friday, October 31.

Community Enrichment Grants are intended to help meet local needs and enrich the quality of life for all Outer Banks people. The service area encompasses Dare County and all Outer Banks communities, from Corolla to Ocracoke Island. Grants may be awarded in the areas of: arts & culture; children & youth; education; the environment; disaster relief & prevention; health; historic interpretation & preservation; and other human services. For more information, and to submit an application online, visit the Community Foundation website at www.obcf.org. 

The Outer Banks Community Foundation manages more than $12 million in 130 charitable funds. The Community Foundation awards charitable grants to local nonprofits, administers 40 scholarship funds, and provides tailored services to help donors pursue their charitable interests. Since its inception in 1982, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $5.5 million in grants and scholarships to local nonprofits and students.