Paying the Holiday Spirit Forward
The Outer Banks SPCA is always looking for volunteers to be a canine’s best friend.
There is a wonderful feeling to the holidays, an understanding that goodwill and generosity exists in all of us.
Then comes the doldrums of winter, and, here on the Outer Banks, a push to get ready for the summer season. Suddenly it’s as though that wonderful sense that we’re all in this together (and the goodwill and generosity of the holidays) is not so much forgotten as it simply falls by the wayside.
It doesn’t have to be that way, though. We can certainly take that holiday feeling and pay it forward throughout the year.
It doesn’t take much; sometimes just setting aside an hour or two a month allows us to reach out and be a key part of our caring community.
The Outer Banks has one of the most active and extensive nonprofit group of organizations anywhere, and a great way to pay the holiday spirit forward year round is to volunteer.
“We’re always looking for volunteers. Absolutely,” Candace Vanbrunt, office manager at the Outer Banks SPCA in Manteo said. “It’s pretty easy. Just fill out a volunteer form. Stop by and take a dog for a walk. Volunteer to foster a dog. It’s pretty much anything they want to do.”
At the Beach Food Pantry in Kitty Hawk, Executive Director Theresa Armendarez also needs volunteers. “We have a very real need for volunteers,” she said. “We especially need help in the morning, and we always need people who can pick up food from stores.”
Those are just two of the many Outer Banks organizations that serve our community. All of them can use help, and if we find that our holiday spirit has cooled, there is no better place to rekindle it.
Here is a partial (very partial) list of Outer Banks organizations who always need volunteers. We’ve included their mission statements to help explain what each organization does.
Beach Food Pantry
4007 North Croatan Highway
Kitty Hawk
(252) 261-2756
The mission of the Beach Food Pantry is to provide direct nutritional assistance to Dare County residents in a temporary crisis or emergency situation.
Children and Youth Partnership
534 Ananias Dare Street
Manteo
(252) 441-0614
Children and Youth Partnership (CYP) for Dare County is a private, non-profit organization that connects kids and their families with resources to help them thrive.
Dare Literacy Council
(252) 216-7773
The mission of the Dare Literacy Council is to provide literacy resources and services for all people of Dare County, enabling them to improve their lives and the lives of their families, and to function optimally in society.
Dare County Arts Council
300 Queen Elizabeth Avenue
Manteo
(252) 473-5558
Dare County Arts Council’s mission is to encourage the arts in Dare County through advocacy, enrichment and opportunity.
103 East 8th Street
Nags Head
(252)-261-2004
The mission of the Outer Banks Relief Foundation, Inc. (OBRF) is to assist citizens in our community who are burdened with financial difficulties due to a debilitating disease or illness, or a personal tragedy or crisis to themselves and/or their family members.
1031 Driftwood Drive
Manteo
(252) 475-5620
The Dare County Animal Shelter is staffed and managed by the Outer Banks SPCA. The shelter is concerned with the welfare of all animals, domestic, feral or wild.
