PORTSMOUTH — Gather, a Seacoast nonprofit providing hunger relief, announced it has launched an $8 million capital campaign to fund opening a 18,000-square-foot Community Food Center at 124 Heritage Ave.
“The Gather Community Food Center will centralize and expand Gather’s services — combining access to fresh, healthy food with educational programs, workforce training, community meals, and wraparound support — all under one roof,” Executive Director Anne Hayes said in a press release.
The renovation of the space has begun and it is set to open in September, according to Gather. The nonprofit’s announcement states the new center will “go beyond a traditional food pantry model to provide holistic, dignified, and community-driven solutions to food insecurity.”
Gather announced it has already secured $5.1 million toward its $8 million goal, thanks to early leadership gifts and foundation support. Donations are being accepted at gathernh.org/give.
Patte Ardizzoni, Gather’s development and communications director, said the expansion “is critical to address the immediate and long-term needs that our community’s most vulnerable populations face. We are serving more than 10,000 people a month and are bursting at the seams. This exciting project will enable us to serve more people and address some of the root causes of poverty.”
She added, “With the new center, Gather will be able to not only serve the line by addressing immediate hunger, but shorten the line, by offering a path out of food insecurity through wrap-around supports and educational programming.”
Fundraising for Gather’s new center ongoing
Gather recently hosted its largest gala yet with over 300 people at Strawbery Banke Museum, where the nonprofit was founded in 1816.
Ardizzoni said a “generous donor” has put up a $50,000 match for gifts made this summer
Gather is working with JSA Design and Sullivan Construction on the project, stating community members will be invited to participate in the planning process.
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