Living Well and Doing Good!!!

At The Community Foundation of NC East, we greatly enjoy each and every opportunity we have to give back, pay it forward and encourage those around us to Live Well and Do Good!!

What a fantastic example of this mindset that we recently had the opportunity to share by presenting a grant to Masonboro.org. There is truly no greater opportunity than this one, for us to join together as partners with this outstanding nonprofit in Wilmington, North Carolina, to help them further their most important mission of protecting public access, promoting responsible use and preserving the traditions of Masonboro Island. They do such incredible work in efforts to keep those traditions, - surfing, fishing, boating, paddle boarding - open to you, your children, and even your pets, for generations to come.

Since their origin in 2008, hundreds of incredible volunteers have removed and recycled over 20 tons of trash from Masonboro Island during their 4th of July celebrations. In 2013 they launched the Masonboro Island Explorer Program, an educational, science based field trip to Masonboro Island for fifth grade students in New Hanover County, and what an AMAZING day that is!!! As CEO of The Community Foundation of NC East, it is one of the things I absolutely treasure most, which is getting the opportunity to do site visits with our Grantees, and spend quality time with them learning, sharing and building relationships!! “Without a doubt, this was one of the most impressive programs I have witnessed in my 25 years in the Philanthropy Business. Not only was this an incredibly wonderful group of 93 fifth grade students, but what an amazing day of learning, and it was totally like an entire day in the Science Lab but taking it to Masonboro Island was phenomenal”!! “The Program Directors, the Volunteers and the Parents together, make this a learning experience that the students will always remember”.

There has been much success and growth with this program since 2008, and due to the generous support of others in the community, we have been able to watch Masonboro.org now be able to introduce this program to more than 2000 students. This is simply incredible and what a wonderful way to invest in the lives of our youth while preserving the beauty of Masonboro Island which we all treasure and love dearly!

What an honor for this fantastic organization to invite me to join them on the recent field trip over to the island and I simply loved having the opportunity to meet the students, teachers, parents and volunteers while basking in the amazing spring weather on a perfect sunny day, joining in on the fun learning experience which included crabbing, collecting shells and other treasure, and learning about our waterways, the science behind our eco system and most of all, sharing laughs and making memories.

This is how we define “Living Well and Doing Good”!!!!