Dear Gleaners,  

Happy New Year! The Androscoggin Gleaners would like to thank you for all the time, energy, and resources spent working to get good food to good people in 2023. Last year saw an increase in Androscoggin Gleaner participation and action across the county! We worked with more farmers, volunteers, and distribution sites than ever before. This would not be possible without generous support from the Sewall Foundation, the Alden and Margaret Laborde Foundation, and continued support from St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, Healthy Androscoggin, and University of Maine Cooperative Extension. Thank you!

2023 was a big year for the gleaners! The graph below shows the growth since 2021.

In total, we received and donated 17,808 pounds of produce from 14 farmers and growers. This equals 103,000 servings of food, most of which would otherwise have been composted or thrown away. We were also able to use some funds to purchase a CSA from Little Ridge Farm and bring weekly food to New Beginnings Youth Shelter in Lewiston. While it is nearly impossible to tally all the hours spent working to make 2023 our best gleaning year yet, volunteers donated over 400 hours towards harvesting alone! 

In addition to our traditional gleans, the Androscoggin Gleaners were able to accomplish new projects we had not done in the past, thanks to generous donations from new and old gleaning partners! Due to an unfortunate hailstorm, Ricker Hill Orchards opened their orchards to donate 3,000 pounds of apples. This was harvested by over 100 volunteers from St. Mary’s Nutrition Center, UMaine Extension 4-H Program, The Root Cellar, St. Dominic Academy, Somali Bantu Community Association, Alan Day Community Garden, and so many others. The apples were processed into delicious apple sauce that was distributed to pantries and communities across Androscoggin County. The Gleaners also received donations of food and time from Chirp Creek Farm, Willow Pond Farm, Bell Farms, and Alan Day Community Garden to put together 40 meal boxes for the Lewiston Housing Authority before Thanksgiving. We hope to continue these projects and others like them as the gleaners grow into 2024 and beyond!

Lastly, we are sad to say that near the end of 2023, the Androscoggin Gleaners and our community lost Scott Roberts to a year-long battle with cancer. Scott was a co-founder of the Androscoggin Gleaners and was always willing to volunteer time and ideas. His energy and wit will be greatly missed, but we are honored and excited to carry on the amazing work Scott started in 2017.

Thank you to all, and we can’t wait to find more ways to connect in the coming year!

Sincerely,

The Androscoggin Gleaners