About Us
The essence of our organization exists in our human spirit – the spirit and passion of those that serve and the spirit and determination of those who accept our services. We are dedicated to raising awareness of our cause and serving those in need in our community.
In this section you will find all that you need to know about our people, mission, history and, answers to frequently asked questions. If you want to learn more about our organization, just follow the links for more information. It’s extremely important to us that you get to know more so that you feel comfortable working with us. Once you take the time to find out what we’re all about, we are confident you will want to be engaged with our organization.
The mission of the Beach Food Pantry, a benevolent non-profit organization, is to provide direct nutritional assistance to Dare County residents experiencing a temporary crisis or emergency.
The Beach Food Pantry (BFP) was organized by a few local religious organizations in 1989. In 1992, the BFP incorporated. In 2004, we became an IRS Tax Exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Over the years, the BFP has been located at St. Andrews by the Sea Episcopal Church and Holy Trinity in Nags Head; the Emergency Medical Services station in Kill Devil Hills; Southern Shores; and various locations in Kitty Hawk. In January 2016, we moved to our new permanent home at 4007 North Croatan Highway in Kitty Hawk.
The BFP operates under a set of bylaws with our primary mission to help fight hunger and poverty of residents of Dare County by providing temporary assistance of food, and information regarding other services to alleviate hunger and poverty. We have a 13-member Board of Directors, with a four-member Executive Committee, and an Executive Director. We are supported by a 16-member local church and civic organizational structure which helps staff the pantry, volunteers who assist by picking up donations from retail stores, and over 300 total volunteers who support the Pantry through some form of volunteer service. We also have numerous individual, organizations, businesses, religious entities, and corporations which contribute food and money to us regularly to help support our mission. Along with donations from community food drives, religious organizations, businesses, philanthropic groups, and individual citizens, we purchase a large amount of food and other items from the Food Bank of the Albemarle. Once a month, we are supplemented with product from the State Nutritional Aid Program (SNAP). Additionally, we receive meat, produce, baked goods, dairy, and other items at a minimal per pound cost from the Southern Shores, Kill Devil Hills, and Nags Head Food Lions and Fresh Market in Nags Head.
The people and families that we serve are given a minimum two-week supply of food based on family size. We provide temporary assistance up to four times a year, with a minimum of 30 days required between visits. In 2014, we were named Outer Banks Non-Profit of the Year through the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce Non-Profit of the Year Program. We are an affiliate of Feeding America and the Food Bank of the Albemarle, and are members of the Outer Banks Chamber of Commerce, North Carolina Center for Non-Profits and NC Tech 4 Good.