OUR HISTORY

The Eagle’s Wings ministry began in the fall of 1989. From a series of community meetings, three conclusions were reached: First, significant need existed in Beaufort County due to an excessive segment of the community that lives below the poverty level. Second, immediate steps should be taken to try to alleviate the most pressing needs for this population. Third, a cooperative Christian ministry would accomplish much more than several isolated individual efforts.

Eagle’s Wings began assisting the population of Beaufort County on December 14, 1989, through the facilities of Trinity Episcopal Church in Chocowinity, NC, and funding was provided by Southern Baptist Convention Hunger Funds through First Baptist Church of Chocowinity. In August of 1990, the ministry moved to 212 South Bridge Street in Chocowinity. This move provided much needed space for rapid growth.

Several years later, Eagle’s Wings moved directly across the street in two buildings owned by the Park Boat Company in Chocowinity. Flooding in both 1995 and 1996 prompted us to finally move in 1999 to our current location at 932 West Third Street in Washington, NC, where we began leasing a building which was vacated by an auto parts company. This move provided the ministry with much needed room for expansion. Four rooms were built to accommodate the interviews conducted by our caseworkers, a break room was added, and a very large space was modified and outfitted to become our warehouse, where food is delivered, broken down into various household sizes, and ultimately distributed.

From 1989 until 2005, our daily management and operations were strong. We have always had a large number of clients requesting assistance. However, during these years, we had a continual struggle to meet our budget needs, and daily operations consumed our energy.

In early 2006, thanks to a new influx of board members and volunteers, we focused anew on our governance. We have doubled our board, hired more staff, and drastically improved our financial standings and publicity.

In December of 2007, we purchased our own facility through a grant from the First Presbyterian Church of Washington. In June of 2008, we acquired two walk-in freezers provided by a grant from St. Peter’s Episcopal Church of Washington.

In 2008 the creation of a successful signature event, Dancing With OUR Stars, involving the collaboration of more than 200 local individuals and organizations, has brought us financial stability and allowed us to establish an endowment fund and reserves that will insulate us against difficult economic times. This event has continued through 2011 to bring substantial income to our organization. The 2011 event was changed to include not only local organizations but non-profit dance teams with whom we shared the contributions.

A 2009 grant from the Jonathan Havens Charitable Trust provided new desks, chairs, and office equipment. In 2011 we received a grant from the Cannon Foundation which was used to add an air lock to the front of the building (giving our clients shelter in bad weather and increasing our energy efficiency), extend the overhang at the pickup area, and replace the office windows with four insulated, double-hung, low-E, gas-filled windows. A grant from Coke brought us a new HVAC system into the warehouse, extended the concrete pad, and purchased and installed an insulated garage door.

In September 2011, we converted our facility to a “Client’s Choice” warehouse where clients are able to select their own food items, giving them dignity and eliminating waste for us. For this project we painted the walls and shelves, installed and painted a new ceiling, and purchased some new shelving through a grant from Jonathan Havens Charitable Trust.

We are an invigorated non-profit. We continue to look forward to expanding our services. We hope, by God’s grace, that we will be a bright spot for those in need as we work to eliminate hunger in this region.