Gather, an anti-hunger nonprofit organization, has spearheaded the construction of raised garden beds around the Seacoast to provide fresh produce for residents dealing with food insecurity.

A recent report from the nonprofit Feeding America indicates one in 10 Granite Staters don’t have consistent access to enough food, including fresh fruits and vegetables. Gather Executive Director Anne Hayes said, “More people are turning to growing their own food and we have provided them with a way to do that by harnessing volunteer labor to build raised beds across the Seacoast.” Recently the NH Air National Guard volunteered their labor constructing an array of raised beds at the Portsmouth YMCA.

Liam Lundt, operations director for Gather, says over the past two years, Gather has seen a 44% increase in the number of people needing food; Gather now serves over 10,000 people each month. Says Lundt, “We’re really trying to fill that gap with more nutritious, fresh food and the fantastic weather this summer has been a huge help for growing vegetables.”

A team from the NH Air National Guard recently built raised beds at the Seacoast YMCA in Portsmouth. (Photo by Allison Bussiere)

According to Lundt, some gardens are built and maintained by Gather, while others are maintained by local groups. At all of these gardens, volunteers weed, water and harvest the produce and bring it back to either the Gather pantry or cooking program.

As Gather looks to the future, Hayes remarks, “We want to expand this program by building more raised beds at the YMCA, at other community spaces, and at our members’ homes. A 4-foot-by-8-foot raised bed can produce a surprising amount of food using the square foot gardening technique. Our plan is to try to get funding to expand the program, using our spaces as demonstration beds to teach people how to grow their own food either in community gardens or where they live”