PAST RECIPIENTS INCLUDE: Silverbrook Cemetery (Oriental Woman’s Club), EMS equipment/defibrillator (NC Community Foundation), Hurricane Florence housing restoration (Pamlico Disaster Recovery Fund), Hope Clinic, JoJo Workin, Friends of the Pamlico Library, YNTO (Youth Navigating Towards Opportunity), Pamlico Partnership for Children.
Raising money for our
2026 Featured Nonprofit:
HeartWorks
We provide free afterschool care and summer programs. Our mission is to address the underserved mental and physical health needs of youth and their families in Pamlico County and surrounding areas. Education and positive mental health are the cornerstones of our efforts. Nurturing is our method.
Born and raised in Pamlico County, Dr. and Mr. Lee returned home after successful professional careers, intent on going back to the community that raised them. Dr. Lee established the county’s first pediatric practice and quickly recognized significant barriers affecting local children and families.
Poverty, geographic isolation, limited transportation, lack of accessible healthcare and mental health services, and family instability created challenges that often prevented children from achieving academic, social, and emotional success.
Dr. Lee saw firsthand how adverse childhood experiences, developmental delays, and untreated behavioral and mental health needs could affect a child’s future. She and Mr. Lee believed meaningful, long-term change needed a holistic approach; it required building a network of resources to support children and their families.
HeartWorks was established to create a network focused on educational opportunities, nurturing relationships, and providing accessible services. It was founded on the belief that communities thrive when they serve as “the shelter of each other.”