Outer Banks Community Foundation annual meeting features Ocracoke highlights
Ocracoke has a lot of off-island friends, and one of its biggest supporters is the Outer Banks Community Foundation.
In Fiscal Year 2025, the foundation received $2.8 million in donor gifts and awarded $1.5 in total grants and scholarships.
Last year, four Ocracoke nonprofit organizations received a total of 10 grants amounting to $66,861 through the foundation’s competitive grant programs (Community Enrichment and Impact grants) and donor-advised funds.
That’s the most granted to Ocracoke so far outside the more than $1 million the foundation sent to Ocracoke as the fundraising conduit after the island was inundated by Hurricane Dorian on Sept. 6, 2019.
In addition to large grants awarded last year to the Ocracoke Preservation Society, Ocracoke Alive, the Ocracoke Health Center and the Ocracoke Community Pool Association, these groups also received smaller grants from donor-advised funds.
Randal Mathews, Ocracoke’s county commissioner, has joined the board of directors, succeeding islander Ruth Toth.
His appointment was announced at the organization’s annual meeting on March 10 at Jennette’s Pier in Nags Head.
Founded in 1982, the Outer Banks Community Foundation (OCBF) is a charitable nonprofit organization dedicated to managing and growing permanent endowment funds established by individuals, families and businesses.
Through competitive grants and scholarships, it supports local nonprofits, helping to strengthen education, protect the environment, and promote the arts, culture and historic preservation.
Pastor Desiree Adams of Ocracoke United Methodist Church, who has lived on Ocracoke for 14 years, offered the opening blessing.
Her remarks, slightly edited below, reflected the strong tradition of charitable support within the Ocracoke community.
“An amazing transformation I have witnessed on Ocracoke since Hurricane Dorian (September 2019) is that we are now slowly beginning to shift our attention from restoring and surviving, to building and thriving.
“We ask the same question as many of you: What can we do to support the flourishing of all members of our community, especially the most vulnerable and those in need, and, like many of you, we have found great encouragement in the foundation, who sincerely asks, how can we help?
“One is that our board of trustees has worked hard to have our rec hall licensed as a commercial kitchen for community use.
“Five days a week, free community lunches are prepared in the kitchen and delivered to homebound community members, school children and those who suffer from food insecurity.
“This program has become a partnership with the Bread of Life Food Pantry run by the Life Saving Church. Our joint capacity to respond to community needs has enabled us to become reliable partners to the school when it seeks assistance for families or children in need.
“In partnership with Ocracoke Alive, our church facilities and members have provided after-school programming while our rec hall has been used for cooking classes.
“Last year after hurricane Helene hit the western part of the state, OUMC and Stella Maris Catholic Chapel formed a volunteer response team that traveled to the mountains three times in two months to help with clean up and rebuilding.
“Recently, we joined with Ocracoke Alive for a community compost system in which we are partnering with local restaurants, the school and individuals in decreasing our waste and the carbon footprint of having it transported off the island.
“We’re turning that waste into fertilizer for a community food garden now in the making.
“We hope that by leading workshops in gardening, cooking and sustainable living, others will be encouraged to implement these practices in their own yards and homes.
“This winter, we started a Friday Social Club for seniors, especially those who are usually homebound, have early onset dementia, are recently widowed, or whose families are working during the day. We gather under the guise of a craft or activity, but it’s usually just some really good storytelling and a lot of laughter.
“In the absence of facilities and programming for our elder community, this has been a very special addition.
“These ministries are just a few of the ways in which we have the honor of working with this incredible community and its many valuable organizations.
“Our partnerships are often blessed by the grants from the Outer Banks Community Foundation, whose willingness to support initiatives keeps our communities connected, resourced, inspired and able to thrive.”