Outer Banks Relief Foundation
Easing Financial Burdens during Difficult Times
When tragedy strikes – a serious illness or injury, a house fire, a death in the family – the financial strain is often a further destabilizing event.
In the 1990s, a family in Kill Devil Hills had a 10-year-old daughter who was battling leukemia. During this long journey, friends and neighbors rallied around the family to help. They ran in marathons, raising money in the girl’s honor for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Sadly, the girl lost her battle. “The family had made spending time with their daughter their top priority and bills stacked up. Eventually, they lost their home,” explains Patty McKenna, executive director of the Outer Banks Relief Foundation. “The people in their community who had run races in the girl’s honor decided to start raising money to pay critical bills for people in need. That was the seed of the idea for the Outer Bank Relief Foundation.”
The organization opened its doors in 2005 with the founders continuing to raise money through races. They transformed an existing annual beach run in Kitty Hawk, the Sandbar 5K, into an in-house fundraising event, then organized the first Outer Banks Marathon in partnership with another nonprofit. “They were off and running,” Patty says. “They raised money to pay mortgages, rent, car payments – anything to keep a family or an individual stable while they are going through a tragedy.”
For many years, TowneBank has served as title sponsor for Couture by the Shore, the Outer Banks Relief Foundation’s premier event to raise funds for the organization.
In 2025, the foundation served 220 families. The outreach covers from Corolla and Carova down to Hatteras, as well as mainland Dare County. Individuals who work in the area are also eligible to receive support. Recently, the foundation received a grant from the Outer Banks Community Foundation to expand its reach to Ocracoke and Hyde County.
 | Jonathan and Cookie Utz benefited from the Outer Banks Relief Foundation’s help and now they are giving back to the nonprofit. |
Patty served on the board of directors starting in 2011 and became executive director in 2017. “When the job opened up, I knew I would love to do it,” Patty says. She describes what she enjoys most about her job. “Mondays are our most rewarding days in the office, even though that may seem counterintuitive. That’s the day that our program manager, Lee Whitley, contacts everyone who applied during the previous week to let them know the results of their application. She says, ‘Thank you for applying and we’d like to help you.’ That’s when we hear the responses – ‘I can breathe again.’ ‘You just lifted a big weight off me.’ ‘I can’t believe that people who don’t even know me would do something like this for me.’ That’s the joyful part of my work.”
Jonathan and Cookie Utz are one couple the Outer Banks Relief Foundation has helped. “Jonathan suffered a stroke, and we were able to pay some bills as he and his household adjusted to the new limitations his stroke presented,” Patty says. “Today, he makes custom fishing rods and each year he donates one to the silent auction at our fundraiser.”
The Outer Banks Relief Foundation got its start with money raised through races.
TowneBank has served as the title sponsor for Couture by the Shore since 2017. Held each May, this fashion show, luncheon, and silent auction raises a significant part of the foundation’s budget each year. “TowneBank stepped up nine years ago and has been supportive ever since,” Patty says. “That means our event organizers don’t have to start over each year. We have a title sponsor who believes in the work. Taylor Sugg has been our advocate and now Jeff Robertson will begin serving on our board in January. TowneBank opens doors and serves as a leader in transforming our event from good to great. That commitment helps us encourage others in the community to participate, and in turn, help more people.”
Couture by the Shore continues to be a popular event with a fashion show, luncheon, and silent auction.
When the community comes together to support its own, everyone benefits from that shared kindness.
For more information and to see how you can help, visit OBRF.org.