Community Foundation Awards $70,000 in Grants
The Outer Banks Community Foundation announced $70,000 in grants last week to 17 nonprofit charities. The grants will support a variety of local causes, from health care to food assistance, youth development to senior care, disaster relief to animal care.
The grants included over $15,000 to the Beach Food Pantry for new refrigerators and freezers, $25,000 to the Outer Banks Family YMCA to renovate their locker rooms, and over $7,000 to the Community Care Clinic of Dare to update their telephone systems and network technology.
Additional grants included $5,000 to Dare County Special Olympics to replace equipment and uniforms that were damaged during Hurricane Michael. A further $3,000 was awarded to the Outer Banks Dementia Task Force for a conference for caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s.
Additionally, four donor-advised funds within the Community Foundation awarded grants earlier this month, including the Preston Family Fund, the Peregrine and Kaye White Fund, the Elliott-Sawyer Family Fund, and the Kelly Family Fund. Donor-advised funds are managed on behalf of individuals and families, who recommend the grants that are awarded. This month’s recipients included a host of local organizations, including Room in the Inn, Dare Challenge, OBX Pride, Friends of Jockey’s Ridge, Elizabethan Gardens, and Interfaith Community Outreach.
The Giving for Good Giving Circle also made grants this month to the Outer Banks SPCA, Surfrider Foundation, OBX Go Far, and OBX Storm. The Giving Circle is a group of local families with school-age children who pool their donations and decide together how to award grants.
“The Community Foundation is the Outer Banks’s home-grown grant-maker,” said Lorelei Costa, the Community Foundation’s executive director. “We invest in our local students and nonprofits, supporting our community’s most promising opportunities, and meeting our community’s most pressing needs.”
She continued: “Our grant funding doesn’t come from one or two deep pockets. It comes from thousands of folks from across the Outer Banks, from Dare County, Ocracoke, and Currituck, and even visitors to our community, who contribute small and large donations to build our community’s future.”
Anyone can contribute to any of the Community Foundation’s charitable funds, including the Community Fund, its largest and broadest grant-making endowment. Donations can be made securely online at www.obcf.org/donate and are fully tax-deductible. Checks can also be mailed to OBCF, 13 Skyline Road, Southern Shores, NC 27949.
