November 23, 2025

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Dear Friend,​​

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I’m Sarah, the treasurer of the Somerville Community Growing Center. I mostly stay behind the scenes, but I’m reaching out to you today because the Growing Center really needs your help as we approach the end of 2025. 

In the five years since I became treasurer, 2025 has been the hardest one—by far—in which to raise funds. We rely on grants and donations from our community to sustain us, and this has been an exceptionally challenging year to get both grants and donations. We continue to earn modest funds through our much-loved programs, but our programs aren’t meant to sustain us financially—they’re meant to carry out our mission of cultivating our community. 

We need to raise $15,000 or more before the end of 2025 to meet our budget goal. Want to help? Here are four things you can do:

Donate today! This is the single most impactful thing you can do for us. Plus, an anonymous group of donors has agreed to match every donation that comes in during the month of November - up to $5,000. Every dollar helps fund the programs we produce, materials we use to maintain and steward our space, and the part-time staff that bring it to life.

Buy a wreath! Our annual wreath sale is back and it WILL sell out (it does every year!). Each volunteer-decorated wreath is $50, smells amazing, and will brighten your home for the holidays and beyond. I kept my 2024 wreath inside and it lasted until July!

Shop at Porter Square Books in Cambridge on Tuesday, December 2. Porter Square books is donating 10% of proceeds from Giving Tuesday sales to five hand-selected local nonprofits - one of which is the Growing Center! Shop in person between 12 and 8 pm that day, or call the Cambridge store with your order!

Join our board. As the new year approaches, the Friends of the Community Growing Center are actively recruiting new board members. Our board helps plan programming, executes fundraising campaigns, helps with outreach, and more. No board experience, or gardening experience, is necessary—just enthusiasm. We would like to thoughtfully grow our board in 2026 and encourage anyone interested to apply - no matter your background.

Best wishes for a peaceful holiday season!

Sincerely,
Sarah Moylan
Board Treasurer
Friends of the Community Growing Center