Great Bay Community College (GBCC) and Gather, a Portsmouth-based nonprofit dedicated to fostering a hunger-free community, celebrated the third anniversary of Gather Café at Great Bay in an event on May 1. The three-year collaboration between GBCC and Gather to create and run Gather Café is a practical, hands-on approach to reduce food insecurity among students and to expand the impact within the broader community.
Located on the GBCC campus in Portsmouth at 320 Corporate Drive, Gather Café at Great Bay provides healthy, delicious meals for free or at a 50% discount to students. Members of the public, college staff and faculty purchase meals at full price to help offset some of the cost of the student subsidies. Options include hot meals, breakfast items, sandwiches, fresh fruit, salads, desserts and more.
In a 2024 report, the U.S. Government Accountability Office estimated that approximately 30% of college students experience food insecurity, with higher rates likely experienced by students at community colleges.
“With a shared commitment to improving the lives of the communities that we serve, our partnership with Gather has enabled us both to be innovative in our approach to reduce food insecurity. Gather helps us ensure that GBCC students are cared for and have opportunities to thrive without worrying about where they will get their next meal. We could not be more grateful for the services and support that Gather offers both our students and the community at large,” said Cheryl Lesser, GBCC president.
In three years of operation, Gather Café has served 31,345 discounted meals and 1,189 complimentary meals to GBCC students. The café’s after-hours refrigerator has provided more than 10,000 free meals for students attending evening classes or needing to bring food home. The Café managers also connect GBCC students experiencing food insecurity to GBCC’s Student Support Counselor for additional assistance accessing resources.
“Without Gather at Great Bay, I wouldn’t be eating all that healthily. It has saved me money but also improved my diet. I’m getting less soda and sugary stuff and going more towards actual healthy eating. It has had a significant impact on my energy levels throughout the day,” commented Dylan Obrey, a student in GBCC’s Business Administration program.
As part of its partnership with Gather, GBCC has made its commercial kitchen available to the nonprofit for its Cooking 4 Community program, which provides free meals for the Seacoast community. GBCC students can volunteer to serve meals at the community dinners as a way of giving back to the community.
“Our partnership with GBCC is a win/win and a unique collaborative model. Gather supports Great Bay students with nutritious meals that are free or low cost so they can focus on their studies without the ache of hunger. In turn, our ability to use GBCC’s commercial kitchen for our Cooking 4 Community program has allowed the creation and distribution of close to 90,000 free meals a year for the area’s food insecure community,” said Gather Culinary Director Tania Marino.
The Gather Café is open to the public from Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. except for holidays and when the building is closed. Please visit www.GatherNH.org/GatherCafe for more information.
About Gather
Gather is the largest food access nonprofit organization in southeast NH serving residents across 119 NH and southern Maine towns. Gather’s headquarters and food pantry market are located in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Gather is one of the oldest social service groups in the country, addressing regional hunger needs since 1816. In addition to its food pantry, Gather offers innovative programs that build food security in welcoming and dignified ways, while reducing food waste by utilizing quality surplus food that would otherwise end up in landfills. In the last two years, Gather has seen a 50% increase in demand for food. In 2024, Gather served 125,000 people and made nearly 90,000 nutritious, prepared meals for distribution with approximately 45 volunteers a day coming together to serve the community. Gather has received the highest designation from Charity Navigator; 90% of Gather’s revenues are spent on direct program expenses. For more information, visit GatherNH.org.
