SITE

The three pillars of Cultivating Community's mission and work are food, youth, and the environment. We grow food for hungry people in southern Maine in our garden network and at cooperating farms. We engage youth in meeting community food needs by actually growing food and doing service work in the emergency food system. Through this we teach young people about agriculture and nutrition and we empower them as responsible citizens and agents of change in their own communities. Finally, our anti-hunger and youth development work is intended as an environmental, social justice, and community building enterprise, helping young people understand that their efforts and their choices can make a better world.

Description:
Cultivating Community has several urban gardens in Portland, collaborates with school gardens throughout Cumberland County, and grows at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, Maine. On these sites--using sustainable, organic practices--we grow thousands of pounds organic of produce each year. Much of that produce is donated to hungry families in Cumberland County, either through the emergency food system or directly at our Kennedy Park vegetable stand. This year the rest of our produce will reach hungry mouths through a CSA through the Time Dollar Network.

Our agricultural work serves as the platform for our high-impact summer and school year youth programs. High-school-age youth receive stipends for their garden and composting work while also doing service in the emergency food system, taking food to market, and participating in a hands-on curriculum about food systems, ecosystems, soil science, leadership, and social justice. In our school-based programs, elementary and middle school students learn about these topics while engaging in seed saving, gardening, canning, and salve-making.

History:
We planted our first garden in Spring 2001. That first garden in Portland's Kennedy Park public housing development produced 600 pounds of produce and was the site of our first youth program. Since then we have created or catalyzed the creation of seven gardens, including the two we currently steward. We have also collaborated with four area farms and partnered with dozens of schools and youth programs. In addition to partnerships with schools, we also run three stipended youth programs: Youth Growers, Youth Leaders, and Compost Corps. Some of our key accomplishments in the past four years include these:
*We have made nearly 100,000 pounds of locally grown organic produce accessible to low income families and elders.
*We have created school gardens and garden programs reaching close to 800 students, helping each of these young people to understand more about where their food comes from and to contribute to our community.
*We model a just and ecologically sustainable food system by growing food organically, growing it where people live, and growing it with and for those who need it most.

Contact person: Craig Lapine, Executive Director, (phone), (email)
Office fax number: (207) 541-4769

Address:

P.O. Box 3792 Portland, ME 04104

Web Site: http://www.cultivatingcommunity.org

Directions:

Our physical location is 107 Elm Street, Portland, Room 305A. For maps or information, please see http://www.portlandmaine.worldweb.com/Transportation/PublicTransit

Miscellaneous Information

This agency has United Way funded programs
	No
The agency places volunteers in these categories:
	Families, ages 5 - 10, ages 11 -15, ages 15 - 18, Physically disabled, Developmentally delayed, Court Mandated, Groups, Adults