Mon. June 3, 2024

KAte Constantine

Gather ‘Fill the Hall’

The 10th Annual Fill the Hall will be held Saturday, June 22nd from 9am – 2pm at the Music Hall. It is Gather’s largest food drive of the year to collect food and funds for our summer Meals for Kids distribution. When kids begin their summer break, they lose access to free and reduced lunch and breakfast—leaving their families to struggle to get three meals in a day and leaving many kids to try to find food for themselves while their parents are working. Gather’s Meals for Kids team sets up a free farmers-market style distribution where families with school aged children can select extra items that kids can make easy meals with: such as cereal, tuna fish, peanut butter, jelly, and additional milk, eggs, meats, and fresh fruits and veggies.

Fill the Hall began as a conversation between Denise Wheeler and Gather’s former Board President, Scott McKee who wondered how many families they could feed if they filled every seat in The Music Hall with a bag of food. They hoped to fill at least the front orchestra seats at that first event and wound up filling the entire theatre and the stage. What was originally a planning committee of three people is now a team of almost 20 representatives from Gather, The Music Hall, the City of Portsmouth, the Chamber of Commerce, and our new partners Seacoast Outright. That overwhelming support is more critical now than ever—Gather served over 10,000 people in January, our biggest month to date. Food insecurity is still on the rise in New Hampshire as we are seeing a rise in food prices, rent, utilities, and general cost of living. Many families are having to make impossible decisions that make it hard to put food on the table and many of them don’t qualify for SNAP, WIC, or any other benefits from the government.

As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of this community event, we will also be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Portsmouth’s Pride Parade. Gather is partnering with Seacoast Outright, not only to promote both events—which are occurring on the same day—but also because supporting every member of our community helps us to thrive. From our neighbors who are struggling with getting food on the table to our neighbors who are being threatened because of who they love or how they identify. We can choose to stand in love with one another every single day.

So, we encourage everyone to come to downtown Portsmouth on a beautiful June day, bring some donations to the historic Music Hall, grab some lunch, and then enjoy the Pride Parade.

DONATIONS ACCEPTED AT SJC

Sundays, June 9 and 16

There will be several bins at entrance and throughways at St. John's and Thaxter Hall from Sunday, June 9 through July 16. You may drop any items for the 'Fill the Hall' initiative right here! See the list of helpful items below. Of course, a financial donation of any amount is always appreciated!

OUTSIDE THE BOX

WELCOMES GATHER

Sunday, June 9 at 11AM in the Philbrick Room

Outside the Box is pleased to present guest speaker Kate Constantine from Gather food pantry for the final of our speaker series this program year. Kate, who serves as Gather’s Community Engagement Manager, spent her childhood and youth participating in St. John’s youth programs. We are thrilled and excited to welcome her back as a professional working for a partner organization in our community. The presentation will feature a light lunch and focus on the profound growth and impact of Gather over the past years.