Meredith farm stand to incorporate as nonprofit, with help from community

MEREDITH — Restoration Acres Farm is well on its way to becoming a registered nonprofit with a goal of providing free meals to the community.

"[We] should have all the completed stuff by the end of March,” said Katherine Sorell, owner and operator of the farm stand. “We should have everything I need to move forward so I can get a separate account for the farm with the bank, so if people want to donate, I’ll have an IEN.”

Sorell’s operation gained notoriety last month after someone anonymously reported her stand to the state Department of Health and Human Services for serving free food to those in need. Instead of punishing Sorell for serving stromboli, DHHS instead provided guidance for Sorell to convert her operation to a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

“We’ve had an incredible response from the community,” Sorell said. “A bunch of people did donations through GoFundMe and I was able to get a bigger size freezer and a whole bunch of meat and veggies and other things I needed.”

By Sorell’s account, everything is going very well. She was recently given a  discount on local, grass-fed beef, in addition to her recent donations. 

“That’s my goal, is for this to be healthier meal choices for people, not just the bottom-of-the-barrel ingredients. You tend to get bottom of the barrel when you’re low income.”

Local businesses are also lending a hand to Sorell’s blossoming project. By her count, Sorell is providing 20 to 25 meals per week since our last article.

“Allstate in Meredith is going to be donating a bunch of garden boxes for me so we can make a larger community garden,” Sorell said. “Bill Doten of Doten Landscaping, he’s going to donate all the garden soil.”

Doten confirmed his company’s commitment to the stand, and said he heard about Sorell’s efforts on Facebook. 

“We’re inspired by what she’s doing and think it’s just an awesome thing,” Doten said, adding the soil would be delivered as soon as the garden boxes are ready.

“As soon as they’re in and the local vendors have their topsoil out, we’re going to coordinate with Kathy to get that over to her,” Doten said. “I would imagine it’s going to be two or three truckloads, depending on how many boxes there are. I told Kathy we will fulfill whatever need she has.” 

Jennifer Stevens runs the Allstate branch in Meredith. She’s known Doten since childhood. After she heard he was donating topsoil to Restoration Acres, Stevens offered her help as well.

“Bill Doten, who is a childhood friend of mine, put something out about donating soil, so I continued reading about what she needed and saw she needed some garden beds,” Stevens said. “I thought, ‘What an amazing thing to give back,' because she’s giving so much back to the community.”

Stevens said she’s known Doten since elementary school.

“We’ve coached teams together, our children have grown up together, so we remain very close,” Stevens said. “As a business owner, I support those that support me. But I also grew up in this area, and I want to support people in this area that might not have it very easy right now.”

Good earth and proper beds are just part of the equation for launching such an operation. There’s also plenty of paperwork to be done.

“One of the local lawyers here in town, Ed Philpot, is going to go over the paperwork pro bono to make sure I have all of my T's crossed,” Sorell said. Come springtime, Sorell says she has even more volunteers offering to help with weeding and taking care of the future garden.

Overall, the charity-minded cook is just thankful to have the increased and continued support of her community to complete her mission.

“A lot of these people aren’t low income, but they're still just trying to survive,” Sorrel said of the recipients of her free meals. “Just because you have a job doesn’t mean you don’t struggle. Your fuel and electricity is enough to break your back.”