Oak Island (OKI) and Southport support the community and families during Thanksgiving through local food drives, charity collections, catered holiday meals, and community events. For Thanksgiving this year, local organizations and community members are organizing several initiatives to support homeless, disadvantaged, and residents:
Community & Charity Support
- NO Hungry Child: Operating local food collection efforts and tents on Oak Island to gather food donations (including collections from visitors and departing vacationers) to benefit hungry children and families in Brunswick County.
- Oak Island Elks Lodge #2769: Hosting the annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot 5K, which encourages runners and community members to bring charitable donations and support local non-profits.
- Oak Island Community Center Thanksgiving Dinner: Volunteers are organizing a community-wide Thanksgiving dinner hosted directly at the Oak Island Community Center. They are actively welcoming community members to help serve and participate.
- Brunswick County Streetreach (STREETREACH): This local faith-based crisis organization is heavily involved in holiday outreach. For Thanksgiving, Streetreach is serving holiday meals to all of their local motel guests and hosting an outreach dinner on-property to ensure those experiencing displacement or homelessness have a warm meal.
If you are looking to get involved, local community forums like the Southport & Oak Island Locals Facebook Group are actively coordinating sign-ups for volunteer servers, food donations, and outreach assistance.
