Show Notes
In this episode of the Dover Download podcast, Deputy City Manager Christopher Parker chats with Anne Hayes, executive director of Gather, a Seacoast-area food access and hunger relief organization.
Hayes explains that Gather was founded in 1816 by women from Strawbery Banke to support fishermen's families and has evolved significantly since rebranding from Seacoast Family Food Pantry in 2016. Operating from a new community food center at 124 Heritage Ave. in Portsmouth, Gather runs a low-barrier pantry market designed like a small grocery store where members shop by choice and receive food for free. Eligibility requires only that visitors live or work in New Hampshire or Maine. Produce is unlimited, and the pantry stocks proteins, dairy, breads, pet food, personal care items, and accommodates dietary restrictions.
Hayes describes Gather's two-pronged approach: "serving the line" through the pantry and roughly 40 to 45 monthly mobile markets (including three Dover locations and the refurbished "Gus the Bus" fresh food vehicle), and "shortening the line" through wraparound services, Cooking Matters classes, a teaching garden at the Seacoast YMCA, and the eight-week Fresh Start culinary workforce training program. A new production kitchen turns out about 3,000 prepared meals weekly, with a goal of 250,000 annually.
Roughly 35 to 40 percent of food comes from grocery rescue, with additional supply from the food bank, USDA programs, and 70-plus restaurant and manufacturer partners. Funding is largely from individual donations. Gather has 37 staff and 350 to 400 active monthly volunteers.
In This Week in Dover History, we learn that in May 1923, Foster's Daily Democrat announced plans for a special edition marking both Dover's 300th anniversary and the newspaper's own 50th.
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