Introducing Our Updated Mission
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This year with guidance from our board, staff, and community and support from our friends at the Quimby Family Foundation’s Boost Team, we engaged in a thoughtful process to update our vision for Cultivating Community’s work in this new chapter. The new mission and values include feedback from listening sessions and bring in the who, why, where, and how of our work and better reflect our programs. These ever-evolving tools will be a guiding light for our priorities, programs, and decisions as an organization
Our mission is to grow food justice in Greater Portland by providing education, resources, and opportunities to cultivate and share culturally familiar food.
Founded in 2001, our place-based programs prioritize people most likely to experience hunger and be excluded from access to fresh food and land ā including children, immigrants, people of color, older adults, and those with limited resources.
Our work to build a more sustainable and resilient local food system is rooted in the values of Justice, Community, Equity, Digging In, Learning, and Land Sovereignty. We love our community and can’t wait to continue to support the farmers, gardeners, and students in our programs in 2025. Read more about our guiding values and history on our website.
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Fund Our Seedlings…
Feed Your Community!
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Click to enlarge and learn more about this year’s program impacts.
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Our seedlings need a new, warm home! The foundation of our programs is the ~40,000 culturally familiar seedlings we share every year. With Maineās short growing season, these seedlings are essential to the success of our programs and the food security, education, joy, and connection they provide.
Your donations will help us pour the foundation, run the utilities, and finish building a new heated greenhouse at Hurricane Valley Community Farm.
Thank you to everyone who has donated, volunteered, and supported our work this season! Join us and give today if you are able š± So far, we have raised $12,274 toward our $40,000 to complete the greenhouse project, make our work more sustainable, and keep growing for years to come.
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PS… Check your mailbox! You may have gotten a greenhouse card and program update from us with a great design by Abby Clark Creative. If we need to update your address or you have any questions, please drop us a line by calling 207-761-4761 or emailing info@cultivatingcommunity.org.
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Thank you to the more than 60 volunteers who came out on a freezing Saturday to help build raised beds at the Boyd Street Community Garden. Our hearts are full from the incredible community that came together and SHOWED UP! This East Bayside garden has been the center of our work for over two decades, and it means so much to see it getting the love it needs to be a thriving space for sharing skills, growing food as a neighborhood, and playing outside together.
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Special thanks to Roberto and Fresh Food Gardens for leading the workshop and sharing tools, City of Portland staff, and Ramona’s, Forage, Portland Pie Company, and Coffee By Design for keeping us warm and fed. Boyd Street is the 5th garden we’ve rebuilt with raised beds 2024! Common Share will be rebuilt in the Spring 2025, and Casco Bay in Fall 2025.
This project is made possible with funding from the USDAās Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to expand climate resilience through urban agriculture soil remediation, implementation of conservation practices, and outreach. This is part of the USDA’s work to support urban agriculture and innovative production as it plays an important role in growing not only fresh, healthy food, but also providing jobs and increasing access to nutritious food.
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School Garden Parternship Spotlight
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Cultivating Community’s roots began in Portland Public Schools and we are proud to continue to support hands-on garden-based learning for all 3000 elementary school students. This year, faced with school budget cuts, we stepped up to fill a gap with support from the Elmina B. Sewall Foundation, the Foundation for Portland Public Schools, and local donors. Together, we have provided stipends for garden educators’ time and are helping with curriculum, garden maintenance and monthly upkeep, materials, resource development, and much more. The Coordinators have been exploring the gardens with their students weekly, making sure to capture the changing of the seasons and plant life cycles.
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Meet Leigh, Lyseth School
Garden Coordiantor
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Leigh Quigley is the Environmental Literacy Educator and School Garden Coordinator at Lyseth Elementary School. A passionate gardener, Leigh brings a lot of personal experience and excitement to her role at the school. This fall, Leigh held a schoolwide garden celebration with students, teachers, families, and community members. Students harvested fall produce from the garden (including the carrots pictured above), planted overwintering crops like garlic, weeded and redesigned outdoor learning spaces, and helped tuck the garden in for the winter. Leigh brings so much love to her work and encourages students to grow and cultivate a lasting relationship with nature. We are excited to see what this spring brings!
School leaders like Leigh ensure that school gardens are vibrant learning spaces that support STEAM and Wabanaki Studies, and provide kids with the proven benefits of getting outside and the joy of growing fresh food.
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Our fresh food and land access work is possible thanks to the support of our community. Thank you!
Please contribute if you are able. Volunteer time and in-kind donations are always welcome too! Reach out to info@cultivatingcommunity.org with ideas or to learn more.
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But wait… What about the community farms? Stay tuned! We’ve got a summary of the farm staff with an update on our support for immigrant farmers and their 2024 season coming soon.
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