Meet a Brunswick 'Angel' who spreads her wings to serve families in need
On a Thursday morning in early November, Clarissa Cope stands inside Candy Girl, her store on Oak Island, waiting for help to arrive.
The shop looks like something out of a Hallmark movie with pink walls, brightly-colored lollipop bouquets, and bags of pink and blue cotton candy. But soon those items will take second stage as another theme takes over the store.
“This place is about to become Christmas Land,” she said, a huge grin spreading across her face.
Like a kid, Cope loves Christmas. A life-size Santa statue stands in the corner awaiting the store’s transformation.
“I want to enjoy it awhile,” she said, gesturing to the statue.
Cope’s giving spirit makes her a lot like Santa, but many say she’s even better because her magic doesn’t end on Christmas morning. She spreads joy — and sometimes performs miracles — all year to aid those less fortunate. Also, like Santa, she doesn’t do it alone. Instead of elves, she has the “Oak Island Angels,” and this season, they plan to bring smiles to faces across the island.
Bringing smiles
About eight years ago, Cope started Oak Island Angels. The organization grew out of her family’s desire to provide small gifts for residents in the Southport area nursing homes. It was something she and her children had done back home in Stanley, North Carolina.
“It was something that we missed,” she said.
She reached out to the Southport area nursing homes, and that first year, her family coordinated the gifts and delivery on their own. However, they knew they wanted to give the residents a bit more the next year.
“Some of them didn’t have socks, underwear, and they needed little nail kits and stuff they don’t get — lotions, chapsticks,” she explained.
She placed boxes at local businesses, and people filled them up. Since then, the effort has grown with more people participating. Last year, each of the 90 residents in Southport’s two nursing and assisted living facilities received a nice bag filled with goodies.
“It’s so fun because we actually take it to the rooms in a little wagon down the hall,” she said.
The reactions to the gifts vary, with some trying to decline them altogether, and others inquiring about sneaking in special items.
“This one little man one year said, ‘Is there some Jim Beam in there, ma’am?’ and I said, ‘Oh, no. They didn’t let us bring any of that,’” she recalled.
After word spread about what Cope was doing with the nursing facilities, someone asked her if she also took care of families.
“I said, ‘We can,’ and so, we put a little box out for this family,” she said.
Community support: A Brunswick nonprofit that began with a simple need now serves more than 600 children
Spreading their wings
After helping that first family, the effort took off and grew. Cope and a team of dedicated volunteers hosted fundraisers and toy drives to meet the need. She explained while the need has grown, so has the number of people who want to help.
Last year, the Oak Island Angels served 41 families. Cope explained many of those the Angels serve miss the deadlines set by other organizations.
“They start so early, you can’t wait until December 1st because they are cut off and done,” she explained.
Cope often hears comments from others who say, “Well, why don’t people plan early” and suggest families aren’t doing enough to provide Christmas for their children. But she knows, for some, it’s just not possible.
“Some people can’t plan early,” she said. “They’ve got to have a loaf of bread, they’ve got to have clothes, and they’ve got to have power.”
Most of these families, she explained, don’t earn enough for extras, like Christmas gifts.
“They live on the island, they work full time, and it takes everything they have to pay their bills and put food on the table,” she said. “But they work 40 hours a week.”
In addition to those families, Cope and the Oak Island Angels are often called when children are placed in foster care around the holidays. Last year, she met a social worker at Shoe Show on Christmas Eve because the children had been placed with a family member and didn’t have shoes.
“I said, ‘Girl, we got stuff still,’ and we helped them,” she said. “We make sure we don’t use up all our resources because we know there’s going to be a last-minute call.”
During the holidays, Cope’s phone rarely stops ringing, and text messages ding all hours of the night. One year, she received a message after midnight on Christmas Eve. The woman who messaged her didn’t have anything because children had just been placed with them late Christmas Eve.
Cope said she could help and set toys in her living room. The next morning, they told the children Santa didn’t know they had moved, and they got their gifts from their old home and brought them there so they could pick them up. Cope said it all worked out for the children, and she was glad to be able to help.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” she said.
In addition to gifts, Cope is also spreading Christmas cheer by helping families decorate their homes for the holidays. For the last couple of years, she has put a tent up outside her home offering gently used Christmas trees and décor to those who need it. People are welcome to drop by and take what they need.
Cope often watches from her window with delight as children pick out trees.
“These little kids will just say, ‘Oh, I want this,’ and they get to put a tree in their room and decorate,” she said.
Magic all year round
After realizing the needs within the community, Cope and the Angels began providing things for families at other times of the year. Last year, they provided baskets of Thanksgiving dinners to homes, and this year, they will be cooking Thanksgiving Day dinner and delivering meals. Cope said someone in the community has already donated the turkeys and hams, and since she announced the plan, others have been eager to provide items and volunteer.
After Christmas, the Angels help with necessities. Recent requests on the Oak Island Angels page include needs for a baby stroller, an electric stove, assistance with a haircut, and help with groceries. They also have shown up to help families after tragedies. In recent years, they have organized benefits for families whose loved ones drowned while visiting the island, and recently, they came to the aid of a family who lost their home in a fire.
There is one thing the Oak Island Angels doesn’t help with though, and that’s rent. Cope explained they just don’t have the funding to do that, and when those calls come, she refers them to other agencies in the area.
While helping others brings Cope joy, she admits the stories she hears are often heartbreaking.
“Some of them, they just tell you everything, and then you can’t sleep,” she said. “You’re just thankful for everything you have.”
Counting on the community
The Oak Island Town Council recently presented Cope with the Trees to Sea Award, recognizing citizens for outstanding citizenship. Councilors Bill Craft and Sheila Bell presented the award to Cope during the council’s regular meeting in October.
“They are the first responders in caring in Oak Island,” Craft said during the meeting.
While Cope and the Angels make things happen, she acknowledges many have a hand in the magic. Cope credits the community for helping answer the call. Whether it’s purchasing items at their garage sales, dropping off toys for kids at Christmas, or making monetary donations, businesses, island residents, and area visitors all have contributed to Oak Island Angels.
Tammy Littlejohn, a real estate agent and Oak Island resident, recently dropped off a check to help the Oak Island Angels with their holiday programs.
“What they do is amazing,” Littlejohn said. “There are just so many people in need, and people don’t even know it.”
While people are always welcome to drop off gift cards or checks — made out to Oak Island Angels at Candy Girl, 8317 E. Oak Island Drive — there are also opportunities to give new, unwrapped toys. On Dec. 9, the Oak Island Angels will partner with two Oak Island businesses, Shagger Jack’s and Second Wind, to host a fundraiser and toy drive. Cope said Santa and his elves will be on hand to help.
“It’s going to be an all-day fundraiser for the nursing homes and all the kids,” she said.
This will be the third year Second Wind has helped with the event and the first for Shagger Jack’s. Cope said when it comes to helping with events like this one, she will take all the help she can get because she always wants to answer that last-minute call for help.
As Cope paces around her shop, preparing for its Christmas transformation, she knows the next several weeks will be a whirlwind. But she’s not worried. In fact, she’s smiling just thinking about it.
“We’re about to be busy, we’re about to have fun, and we’re about to make a lot of people happy,” she said.
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This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Oak Island Angels serve families during the holidays and all year
