Beach Food Pantry Establishes Endowment to Feed Dare County Forever
The Beach Food Pantry has established a new charitable endowment to fight hunger in Dare County.
The Beach Food Pantry Endowment Fund will provide ongoing and perpetual support for this benevolent nonprofit organization, as it works to provide direct nutritional and food assistance to Dare County residents. The fund, which will be held at the Outer Banks Community Foundation, will be available to cover any and all of the Pantry’s program, operating, and/or capital needs.
“Since the Beach Food Pantry was first organized in 1989, we have helped thousands of Dare County residents feed their families through a temporary crisis or emergency situation,” said Theresa Armendarez, Executive Director of the Pantry.
“Our staff, board, and volunteers work incredibly hard each and every year to raise the funds we need to support our mission,” continued Ms. Armendarez. “With this new endowment, we now have a permanent, sustainable source of funds to supplement the annual dollars we raise. This means that we will be able to feed more families in our community, seek more food donations, and provide more educational programs about nutrition and food.”
“All of us at the Community Foundation are honored to partner with the Beach Food Pantry,” said Lorelei Costa, the Community Foundation’s Executive Director. “This is a vital organization that plays a leading role in assisting the needy in our community.”
Earlier this month, the Community Foundation awarded a grant of $5,000 to the Pantry to purchase a generator for use during natural disasters and power outages. In 2015 the Community Foundation awarded a two-year, $50,000 grant to the Pantry towards the purchase of its new building on the Bypass in Kitty Hawk.
Anyone can make a tax-deductible gift to the Beach Food Pantry Endowment Fund at www.obcf.org/donate. The Pantry and the Community Foundation also invite major gifts, bequests, and legacy donations to the fund. Please contact Lorelei Costa at 252-261-8839 for more information about leaving a planned gift to benefit the Pantry.
The Outer Banks Community Foundation holds endowment funds by and for over 40 nonprofits and churches across the Outer Banks, including Food for Thought, Interfaith Community Outreach, Outer Banks SPCA, St. Andrews By-the-Sea, Elizabethan Gardens, Chicamacomico Life-Saving Station, Dare County Arts Council, and Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church. For more information on establishing an endowment for your nonprofit, contact the Community Foundation at 252-261-8839.
The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a public charity that connects people who care with causes that matter. The Community Foundation manages $13 million in charitable funds for individuals and agencies, awards charitable grants to local nonprofits, administers 45 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 $7 million in grants and scholarships to local nonprofits and students.
The Beach Food Pantry is a nonprofit organization working to provide direct nutritional assistance to Dare County residents in a temporary crisis or emergency situation. Organized by a few local religious organizations in 1989, the Pantry incorporated in 1992 and became a tax-exempt, 501(c)(3) nonprofit in 2004. The Beach Food Pantry is supported by a 19-member local church and civic organizational structure, and by 500 volunteers who support the Pantry through many types of unpaid service. In 2014 the Pantry was named the Outer Banks Nonprofit of the Year by the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, and it is an affiliate of Feeding America and the Food Bank of the Albemarle.
