Outgoing Gather Executive Director
Deb Anthony
‘We all wish we didn’t need food pantries or food banks, but food insecurity is real, and the pandemic showed us all how serious the issue is and how fragile the food system can be,’ says Deb Anthony, who’s retiring from her role as executive director of the Seacoast food pantry Gather at the end of the year.
Deb Anthony, the outgoing executive director of Gather, one of the Seacoast’s largest food pantries, has seen firsthand how food insecurity is a pernicious blight on the well-being of thousands of residents in the region.
“We all wish we didn’t need food pantries or food banks,” said Anthony, who will retire soon after more than eight years on the job. “But food insecurity is real, and the pandemic showed us all how serious the issue is and how fragile the food system can be.”
During her career as a nonprofit troubleshooter, Anthony had rarely stayed more three years in a position, but as much as Anthony helped transform Gather, she says the job has impacted her in many positive ways.
When Anthony took over, Gather’s annual budget was $300,000, and the pantry was open one day a week for clients who had to make an appointment to collect boxes of food which was picked for them. Anthony and Gather’s board of directors have totally transformed the operation to a more than $5 million annual budget, a warehouse, transportation for mobile markets to bring to pantries and fresh meal offerings to residents in need from Seabrook to Rochester, and new programs to focus on families, children and seniors.
Q. How did the pandemic impact Gather?
A. I told the board it was vital to stay open and even expand our services, and the board agreed. We recognized early on there was going to be an issue for the rest of the school year and into the summer (2020), because as many as 60 percent of kids were on free or reduced lunches at school. These families needed help.
We established mobile markets to reach families who found it hard to come in once a week. We set up a texting program so families would know when and where we would be. Having been a single mom myself, I know how busy and complicated life can be. Our focus was to bring the food where the families were. We felt as an organization that we owed them our best efforts to help folks with this burden.
Q. How many people does Gather help, and how much food do you distribute?
A. Since the pandemic began, we have been serving about 1,200 unique households (more than 2,000 people) and giving out more than 15,300 pounds of food a month.
Q. During your time at Gather, how has the community response been?
A. The Portsmouth community has been incredibly supportive of us. They really recognized that we were feeding families in areas like Rochester, where the parents who work in the Portsmouth area can’t afford to live any closer. The board has been amazing, as we agree our focus is on the health and dignity of our clients.
We could not do anything without the massive volunteer support we get. They get the food and stock the shelves and make everyone feel welcome. We get food donations from more than 40 suppliers, and targeted corporate assistance has allowed us to expand our vehicle fleet so we can reach more members.
Q. How has Gather evolved on an organizational level?
A. A nonprofit is a business, and you need to figure out a way to make it work, to be as passionate about the numbers as if you were building a hotel. We’ve added a CFO and a professional staff. The board and staff work in incredible harmony, and this has generated incredible passion inside the board and with our supporters. That passion leads to many supporters using their connections to help us get more resources. We are very transparent, so supporters know what we are doing to help families.
While myths remain about people being undeserving and lazy or saving money on food to buy drugs, we have found it’s the opposite. Food insecurity is more widespread than many know. We have members who work hard, who work at two jobs, and families, who make $40,000 a year, but find that’s not always enough to keep their family fed. We also have retired people who find it hard to get by on their fixed Social Security income or on disability and find it hard to even afford a bus trip to the pantry.
As the economy improves and people have more money in their pockets, we emphasize that they should keep using us for a while, so they can save money and use it on rent or fuel and to save money for themselves.
