At the June meeting of the Outer Banks Community Foundation Board of Directors, over $37,000 was awarded to support the work of 14 vital nonprofits. The grants will aid a variety of local causes, including care for our elderly, therapeutic activities for people with special needs, food, medicine, education, and the arts.
NC MedAssist received a $10,000 Community Enrichment Grant to provide free prescription medications to low-income, uninsured Dare County residents. An estimated 15% of Dare County adults are uninsured and 11% of our residents live at or below the federal poverty level. Last year, NC MedAssist served 245 Dare County residents, providing them with more than $650,000 in needed, and often life-saving, medications.
NC MedAssist reports that the high cost of prescription medications is still the number one reason why uninsured individuals go without their daily medicine for diseases like high blood pressure, asthma, and diabetes. “Without our programs, our patients would have to choose between putting food on the table and purchasing their medicine,” wrote Sheila Kidwell, NC MedAssist Director of Foundations and Communications.
Dare County residents can apply for medication assistance online at https://medassist.org/how-to-enroll/ or by calling MedAssist toll-free at (866)331-1348.
MANE & TAILL Therapeutic Horsemanship Academy earned a $7,000 Special Focus Grant to provide individual riding lessons and horsemanship skills to people with special needs in Currituck County. MANE & TAILL has been serving the community since 2009, providing a safe, nurturing environment for approximately fifty clients each year. Their programs are designed so that children and adults with special needs can learn life lessons and reach physical, emotional, and social goals from their experiences with horses.
This grant was made possible by a bequest from the late Pauline Wright of Currituck, who had a passion for helping people with disabilities and left a gift to the Community Foundation in her will to do exactly that.
Outer Banks Forever was awarded a $500 Special Focus Grant for digital education and distance learning programs about the history of the Wright Brothers.
Special Focus Grants are available in the spring of each year, with dedicated funds earmarked by donors for the causes they choose. The Community Foundation currently administers Special Focus Grants in the areas of animal welfare, aviation education, and opportunities for people with disabilities, in both Dare and Currituck.
Several donor-advised funds also made grants in June, including the Kelly Family Fund, the Preston Family Fund, and the Burwell A. Evans Charitable Fund. Donor-advised funds are managed on behalf of individuals and families, who recommend the grants that are awarded. This month’s recipients include G.E.M. Adult Day Services, Friends of Jockey’s Ridge, NC Coastal Land Trust, Lacey J. McNeil First Flight Rotary Scholarship, Outer Banks Relief Foundation, Beach Food Pantry, and Dare County Arts Council.
The Community Foundation is now accepting applications for its next cycle of Community Enrichment Grants. Eligible projects must directly benefit all or a portion of the Community Foundation’s service area, which includes all of Dare County, and all Outer Banks communities, from Corolla to Ocracoke Island. Community Enrichment Grants support all charitable causes, including arts and culture, children/youth, disaster relief and prevention, education, the environment, historic interpretation and preservation, and other human services.
Prospective applicants are urged to review the grant guidelines online at www.obcf.org/grants, and then call the Community Foundation to discuss their ideas. The application deadline is Friday, July 31, 2020.
The Outer Banks Community Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit charitable organization that connects people who care with causes that matter. Based in a historic flat top cottage in Southern Shores, the Community Foundation manages 190 charitable funds for individuals and agencies, awards grants to local nonprofits, administers 55 scholarship programs, and provides tailored services to help donors pursue their charitable interests. Since its inception in 1982, the Community Foundation has awarded more than $10 million in grants and scholarships to local nonprofits and students.
