About Us
Gather to Grow brings people together to collectively imagine and build a just food system and thriving community.
We are a community-driven nonprofit rooted in Lewiston-Auburn, Maine, working at the intersection of food justice, urban gardening, and youth leadership.
We work with our community to:
- Make healthy, local, and culturally preferred food accessible and affordable
- Grow gardens and support local farmers
- Cultivate partnerships with young people as engaged leaders and changemakers
- Create opportunities for people with diverse experiences to learn, lead, and grow
- Build vibrant neighborhoods and deepen connections between people place, and the land
- Strengthen community food systems through education, advocacy, and collaboration
Gather new perspectives.
“I got to meet new people from different backgrounds and I got to see the people of my community in a different light.”
– Youth Program Participant
Our Vision
We envision a just and vibrant Lewiston Auburn where neighbors care for each other and come together across differences to ensure every person has good food, a sense of purpose and belonging, and opportunities to thrive.
Our Approach
We combine direct service, hands-on learning, and systems-level advocacy to address both immediate needs and long-term solutions.
At Gather to Grow, we recognize that a complex web of social, economic, historical, and environmental factors determines a person’s and community’s long-term health and wellbeing. We aim to effect change at multiple levels: we work to create immediate improvements in equitable and reliable access to healthy and fresh foods through relational community-based work. We also work towards transformative systems change by strengthening community resources, deepening collaboration, advancing community planning and policy strategies, and addressing structural and systemic barriers that perpetuate food insecurity, poverty, and injustice.
Our Beliefs
- Good food nourishes and connects us. Good food is a right.
- We love this place; Lewiston-Auburn is our home.
- Everyone is welcome and respected.
- Relationships are the foundation of our work.
- We all have something to teach and learn from one another.
- Young people are partners in change.
- We all share a responsibility to build more equitable and just communities.
Our Commitment
As part of our shared responsibility to build more equitable and just communities we commit to work together to better understand and dismantle the racism in our food system; prioritize the leadership of Black, Indigenous, People Of Color (BIPOC) within our organization and use our power and privilege to center the voices of, and leverage resources for, BIPOC leaders and community organizations. We strive to listen first, collaborate often, and remain grounded in the values and voices of Lewiston-Auburn.
Our Story
Becoming Gather to Grow
Gather to Grow has deep roots and a legacy of collaboration. We have been working alongside our community to build a more just food system and vibrant community in Lewiston Auburn for over 25 years. We started with just 14 families growing food together in garden plots at a housing complex. As Lots to Gardens, our community garden work grew to include food-based youth leadership and community cooking programs and food access initiatives.
As the St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, part of St. Mary’s Health System, we expanded our strategies and deepened our approach to pair needed community services like the St. Mary’s Food Pantry, with collaborative strategies that strengthen our food system and address systemic issues that contribute to food insecurity, poverty and isolation. This chapter allowed us to grow our impact by providing equitable food access, education, and support for long-term change.
After more than two decades of learning, growing, and leading, we are excited to be at this juncture of becoming an independent nonprofit. As Gather to Grow, we will be able to better respond to the needs of our community and fully embody the values that guide our work. While our name and look is changing, the core of what we do remains the same and our commitment to our community remains as strong as ever. During our transition, and the transitions around us, we will continue to provide food stability including equitable access to no-cost fresh, culturally preferred food; facilitate opportunities to garden, grow and cook food; and provide learning and leadership opportunities for young people and children. We will also continue our role in catalyzing and engaging in broad collaborative community change. Perhaps even more important, through all our work, we will continue to Gather our communities together across differences to Grow, to Learn, to Lead, to Celebrate, to Heal, to Gain Strength, and to Unite. Please keep in touch and we will do the same as this journey unfolds.
