Restoration Acres, newly established as nonprofit, to host open house this weekend

MEREDITH — After months of paperwork, farm work, dirt work and a healthy helping of community support, the farm stand known as Restoration Acres is now officially a nonprofit, with hopes of expansion and complete self-sufficiency. The farm stand is hosting an open house this weekend to show off its new facility.

It has been a long road for Kathy Sorell, the heart and brains behind the operation, to reach this point. For years, Sorell discreetly served her community by cooking extra meals and leaving them in a refrigerator in her garage for anyone to pick up, no questions asked. Sorell sourced eggs from her chickens, vegetables from her gardens and other ingredients via donation or her own pocket.

“I feel like I have literally carried a baby,” laughed Sorell on a rainy Tuesday morning. “We finally got our [nonprofit status], which took six or seven months, and lots of support. I never could have done it without the help.”

Sorell gestured toward a new, large shed sitting next to her garage that will be the official building of the nonprofit.

“This building has been sitting at my parents' house since December,” Sorell said. “Just preparing to put it here. Then we had a large part of our driveway washout, then somebody donated like $5,000 worth of driveway repair for us to be able to put this here,” Sorell continued. “It’s been unbelievable; a village effort.”

Sorell credited Roberta Traynor, a retired chef from Boston, with providing that $5,000.

“She’s on our board now, she’s been incredible,” Sorell said.

An additional $2,000 in driveway repair was provided by Tim McDonald of Brothers Construction.

In February, an anonymous complaint was called into the state’s Department of Health and Human Services about Sorell's unlicensed operation. Instead, the department worked closely with Sorell to keep her kitchen going, and set her up as a legitimate and safe nonprofit to help provide food to those who need it.

“They gave me some really great ideas and directions to go,” Sorell recalled. “They were super supportive. It was nothing but a positive experience. They were great and they said, ‘We don’t want you to stop this.'”

While the economy is rebounding on a macro scale, many are struggling to make ends meet and pay for basics like food, rent and electricity. The need for operations like Sorell's has only expanded, especially this year.

“There is a huge need,” Sorell said. “Ever since the article came out, we’ve tripled what we’re giving out. We’re giving out about 100 meals a week. Up to the time where we applied we had given away over 4,000 meals.”

In addition to the new driveway and shed, Sorell received new garden beds courtesy of Jennifer Stevens of Allstate Insurance in Meredith and her childhood friend Bill Doten of Doten Landscaping.

Sorell gave The Sun a tour through her new garden, which was rich with green and healthy vegetables.

“It’s going extremely well,” Sorell said, overlooking the rich greens. “We even have corn coming in."

With an expanded garden space, as well as a new structure, Sorell’s eyes are now turning toward making Restoration Acres self-sustaining.

“Now we want to be in a situation where this isn’t coming out of me all the time financially,” Sorell explained, adding that she doesn’t like having to ask the community for donations. “I’m putting in about $1,000 a month of my own money and I can’t do that,” she continued, gesturing to the shed. “This building allows us to run an actual business and an actual farm stand that we can sell products that can return a percentage back into the free meals. We’re also running a GoFundMe to raise about $6,000 to put in a double-walled greenhouse that we can grow further into the season. That way we can grow things that we can sell to restaurants and local businesses.”

In addition to standard farm-stand fare and fresh produce, Sorell is partnering with other merchants and creatives to sell products like honey, maple syrup, quilts and photographs to help sustain the free meals.

“I do a lot of baking, so I’ll be bringing out a lot of homemade bread on the weekends,” Sorell said. “Once we get our electricity put in, we’ll put our fridge and freezer in here and out of the garage.”

The Restoration Acres open house is happening at 8 a.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 11-13, at 91 Corliss Hill Road. Those interested in donating can visit gofund.me/91e7a7d6.