We care.
Hatteras Island Meals provides nutritious meals to those in need. We are a nonprofit 501(c) organization.

WHAT WE DO

Hatteras Island Meals provides nutritious meals for lunch on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday to elderly or homebound clients on Hatteras Island.

100% Volunteer-Staffed
100% Donation-Funded

WE NEED YOUR HELP.

Delivery to our current recipients costs $350 per day. Every donation counts and helps us fulfill our mission.

GET IN TOUCH

Contact us if you have questions, want to volunteer, or know someone who needs help.

If you know someone who would benefit from Hatteras Island Meals services, contact any HIM board member, a local pastor, or Dare County Social Services for more information. You can also send us a message at HatterasIslandMeals@gmail.com.

Who We Are

A volunteer advocacy group since 2003, the Coastal Carolina Purple Martin Society incorporated in 2008 as a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization. Our mission is to protect the annual roost of Purple Martins at William B. Umstead Memorial Bridge in Manns Harbor, North Carolina, and to promote through public education the conservation of these migratory birds throughout the coastal plain region of North Carolina.

About the Roost

A roosting area under the west end of the William B. Umstead Memorial Bridge (“Old Manns Harbor Bridge”) spanning the Croatan Sound between Manns Harbor and Roanoke Island, N.C. has attracted Purple Martins for more than 40 years. About 100,000 martins come from throughout northeastern North Carolina to roost here from early July through mid-August.

Birds & Motorists

Swarms of purple martins at dawn and dusk presented a traffic safety hazard. Our studies conducted in 2004 and 2005 determined that up to 3,000 birds were killed by vehicles.

Protecting the Birds

In 2007, we worked with state and local officials to place a 20-mph speed limit zone at sunrise and sunset on the west end of the bridge. Flashing lights warn motorists at those hours. Law enforcement patrols the area. The number of martin fatalities has fallen considerably.

Our Martin Colony

In 2012 we raised a state-of-the-art martins nest box with 14 compartments. The following year, martins had filled the house. We monitor the colony during the nesting season in the spring and early summer, and conduct educational programs here. Thanks for support from the Outer Banks Community Foundation.

Martin Education

During the roost season and throughout the year, we give presentations on martin behavior, the Manns Harbor roost, and managing martin colonies.

We began our work in 1980. At that time, the duplex Keepers’ Dwelling at the Currituck Beach Lighthouse compound had been abandoned for nearly 45 years. For Outer Banks Conservationists, it was worth saving. Ten years later, the Keepers’ Dwelling was almost completely restored, the entire compound manicured and reclaimed, and the Lighthouse – open to the public. Today, we continue to maintain and operate the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, along with another historic site – Island Farm on Roanoke Island.

We work to protect natural, cultural, and historic resources through preservation and conservation of a sense of place, and through public education, interpretation, and outreach, to instill these values in others for the benefit of future generations.

Our staff, working on the Currituck Banks and on Roanoke Island, operate a lighthouse and farm not as employees – but as your hosts to another time and place. As they go about their chores, cleaning the Fresnel lens that still flashes every 90 seconds, or shearing the sheep that graze several feet from centuries-old oak trees, they keep alive the sense of place so that your family can make their own memories of the Outer Banks.

We are a lean group of conservators, taking a dynamic role in the history of our place.