In North Conway, New Hampshire, Hazel Pine is on the board of a farmers' market that has become a lifeline for their community. While the region is surrounded by farms, fresh food isn’t always accessible. High housing costs, seasonal jobs, and a lack of public transportation mean many families struggle to afford or access healthy food.
When the Mt. Washington Valley Farmers Market joined the Grassroots Fund’s Food Systems Resilience Cohort, everything began to shift. “Before we started, our goal was pretty much just to keep going. Being a part of this cohort has really helped us set goals beyond just surviving and instead set community-oriented goals based around our mission.”
The Shared Gifting Cohort is a participatory grantmaking model where members come together to decide how funds are distributed, centering trust, collaboration, and equity. Rather than competing for limited resources, participants build relationships, exchange knowledge, and strengthen solidarity across their communities. For the past three years, the Mt. Washington Valley Farmers Market has taken part in the Grassroots Fund’s pilot of this approach.
The funding and support of the cohort provided Mt. Washington Valley Farmer’s Market with breathing room to secure its 501(c)(3) status, expand community engagement days, and pilot a new community fridge to make local produce available without cost barriers. “We finally got our 501(c)(3) status after almost a year, and that would not have been possible without the cohort.”
Equally powerful were the relationships and shared learning. “Working with other groups has opened the door for collaboration in a way we didn’t really have the capacity for before.” Regional meetups and the shared gifting circle left a deep impression: “Being able to sit at a table, seeing everyone, while having those funding discussions—it felt really powerful.”
Looking back, Hazel says the most significant gift was permission to think beyond the immediate. “The money has allowed us to have so much more capacity. We’re dreaming bigger now. Hearing what other folks have done has broadened our perspective on what’s possible.”
