Next in our series of posts about new Charitocracy OBX nominees, we have nominee Interfaith Community Outreach, nominated by donor jjalbanese1. They are "Bridging the Gap," providing assistance to individuals facing a temporary emergency crisis. You can find their web site here.

A few words on Charitocracy

Firstly, for newcomers: here's how it works. Donors pool their monthly contributions, as little as $1. The cause with the most votes each month wins the pot. No matter how much or how little you contribute, each donor at Charitocracy gets one vote. This is where charity meets democracy. So please share this post (see social sharing icons at top of post) and ask your friends to join us and vote! That's how we spread the word and, as a result, grow the monthly pot. The bigger the pot, the bigger our positive impact on the world!

About nominee Interfaith Community Outreach

History

July 29, 2003 – On this date, five parishioners of a local Church met to discuss and define incremental steps necessary to establish a unified way to equitably distribute aid to those in our community seeking emergency assistance.

September 2003 local Pastors who were members of the North Beach Ministerial Association agreed to support the vision. The ICO promised to:

• Maintain the dignity of the person making requests.
• Have a central historical database to assure accountability for funds being disbursed and therefore eliminate the possibility of fraud or abuse.
• Track the needs of our community and be sure that services, funds, energy and efforts are not duplicated.
• Help those in need, such as the working poor, the undocumented, the elderly, the physically challenged, the single parent and those who otherwise do not qualify for governmental assistance.

Commitments were made, volunteers were recruited and trained by Dare County Department of Social Services and the doors to the ICO were opened January 1, 2004.

Since ICO’s founding in 2003, Interfaith Community Outreach has helped over 19,000 individuals in Dare and Currituck who were facing a temporary emergency crisis. These are friends, neighbors, co-workers and even family members that are struggling, many of them in silence. They are struggling to pay rent in order to keep a roof over their heads and they are living in the dark because they couldn’t afford to pay their electricity bill last month. These are just a few examples of what Interfaith Community Outreach addresses each day with people who turn to us when they can no longer carry the burden on their own. Our Staff, Board, and Volunteers work incredibly hard each and every year to raise the funds needed to support our mission of helping people facing a temporary emergency crisis.

So check out this video from last February in which Executive Director (and nominator!) Jenniffer Albanese talks about ICO's programs and how they're "Bridging the Gap" in the Outer Banks. Then please visit the page of nominee Interfaith Community Outreach to vote for, like, or discuss this cause!