Hatteras Island watermen leveraged some of their landings last week to raise $2,940 and truck loads of non-perishable food items and personal care products for the Hatteras Island Food Pantry and for Hatteras Meals, Inc.

Commercial fishermen and charter-boat captains donated fish for a Dec. 8 seafood dinner fundraiser organized by Hatteras Connection, a community-based development project dedicated to the vision of a diversified local economy strengthened by commercial and charter-boat fishing.

“The idea for the fundraiser originated in the fishing community, but quickly drew support from a cross-section of the island’s population,” said Sharon Peele Kennedy, a Buxton resident who helped organize the event at the Hatteras Village Civic Center.

Nine different species, ranging from yellowfin tuna, cobia, king mackerel, and Atlantic bonita, to inshore favorites, such as sea mullet and southern flounder, as well as Pamlico Sound blue crab and shrimp, were donated for the dinner.

Professional chefs Tracy Morris with Frisco Sandwich Company and The Catering Company, Nate Robinson with Basnight’s Lone Cedar Café, Elwood Wescoat with Cape Catering, and Sonny Quidley with Sonny’s Waterfront Restaurant cooked the fish, with Kennedy, Lynne Foster, Sue Mattingly, and others assisting in the kitchen.

“The kitchen crew worked great together, almost as though we were used to doing this every night,” Kennedy said.

Guests were offered grilled, baked, or fried fish, fish salad, steamed shrimp, seafood chowder, as well as side-dishes.

Fishermen donating fish and crab included Rom Whitaker, James Caldwell, Paul Dunn, Jeff Oden, Rob West, Bill Van Druten, Michael Peele, Bob McBride, Todd Ballance, Jamie Reibel, Patrick Caton, Graham Harrison, and Ernie Foster.  

Jim Lyons cleaned all but 20 pounds of the fish in the days leading up to the dinner and stored the fish at Jeffrey’s Seafood in Hatteras.

Island residents and businesses donated supplies and desserts, and helped set up the civic center, serve food to 246 guests, and clean the kitchen and the dining room after the event.  Students from the Cape Hatteras Secondary School National Junior Honor Society assisted with many tasks.

Guests were asked to bring one non-perishable food or personal care item to the dinner.  Those items were delivered to the Hatteras Island Food Pantry Wednesday morning.

A raffle featuring a Christmas wreath and centerpiece, designed and donated by florist Ginny McBride, and a book about the artist Winslow Homer, published and donated by photographer Peter Hornby boosted monetary donations.

Guests came from all the villages on the island, as well as Ocracoke and Virginia.

Ernie Foster, captain of the Albatross Fleet in Hatteras, said the event had all the hallmarks of what makes Hatteras Island a special place.

He said a vibrant community pulsing with goodwill, compassion, and dignity filled the civic center that evening.