New Roots Cooperative Farm
Tax deductible
We are Jabril Abdi, Seynab Ali, Mohamed Abukar, and Batula Ismail. We are farmers who came to the United States as refugees. We have faced many challenges including not being able to work due to barriers faced by New Americans. We didn’t speak the language or have the education to work a regular job in a society that’s not forgiving for individuals who do not have the technical skills to work in many jobs. This fundraising campaign gives us the opportunity to make our dreams a reality, own land, and finally make a home for ourselves in Maine.
As African, Somali Bantu, Black, Muslim farmers we grew up in our culture farming and we are honored to farm in Lewiston, Maine. We are respected by our community and have received support from our loyal customers since we came to the United States and started farming in 2006.
In 2016, after 10 years of farming in Lisbon, New Roots Cooperative was officially formed.
At this time, we began farming a 30-acre farm on College Street in Lewiston. Since then, we have been making improvements to the land including clearing new areas for farming, installing solar panels, and building hoop houses to expand our growing options. We work hard to nurture this land and grow vegetables for our loyal CSA and farmer’s market customers as well as other organizations in the surrounding community.
Purchasing our land will enable us to continue building a sustainable farm, provide food to the community, and improve the food economy in the local area. As an agricultural cooperative, we are stronger, being able to work together with the support of many organizations including Cooperative Development Institute and Cultivating Community.
We are grateful for the support we have received from you, our community, and other organizations throughout Maine.
It is now time to move forward with our biggest endeavor to date-purchasing our farmland! We are counting on your support to make it happen.
Your support of this fundraising campaign will enable us to continue growing and pursuing our goals which include:
- Purchasing the 30-acre parcel that we have been farming and developing since 2016 (cost $87,000)
- Purchasing equipment to open up areas of the land not currently suitable for farming in order to improve the scale of our operations (cost $72,000)
- Completing soil amendments necessary for long-term sustainability and health of the land (cost $15,000)
- Completing infrastructure improvements and upgrades necessary to efficiently utilize the land to its full capacity including increasing solar capacity, expanding irrigation systems, building storage sheds, and building farm roadways (cost $26,000)
We are grateful for your support and look forward to continuing to provide you with delicious, fresh, local, chemical-free vegetables for many years to come!
We invite you to follow along on Instagram and Facebook as we share our journey and our successes along the way.
Thank you for your support!
The New Roots Cooperative Farmers,
Jabril, Seynab, Mohamed & Batula
Visit the New Roots Cooperative Farm website
As African, Somali Bantu, Black, Muslim farmers we grew up in our culture farming and we are honored to farm in Lewiston, Maine. We are respected by our community and have received support from our loyal customers since we came to the United States and started farming in 2006.
In 2016, after 10 years of farming in Lisbon, New Roots Cooperative was officially formed.
At this time, we began farming a 30-acre farm on College Street in Lewiston. Since then, we have been making improvements to the land including clearing new areas for farming, installing solar panels, and building hoop houses to expand our growing options. We work hard to nurture this land and grow vegetables for our loyal CSA and farmer’s market customers as well as other organizations in the surrounding community.
Purchasing our land will enable us to continue building a sustainable farm, provide food to the community, and improve the food economy in the local area. As an agricultural cooperative, we are stronger, being able to work together with the support of many organizations including Cooperative Development Institute and Cultivating Community.
We are grateful for the support we have received from you, our community, and other organizations throughout Maine.
It is now time to move forward with our biggest endeavor to date-purchasing our farmland! We are counting on your support to make it happen.
Your support of this fundraising campaign will enable us to continue growing and pursuing our goals which include:
- Purchasing the 30-acre parcel that we have been farming and developing since 2016 (cost $87,000)
- Purchasing equipment to open up areas of the land not currently suitable for farming in order to improve the scale of our operations (cost $72,000)
- Completing soil amendments necessary for long-term sustainability and health of the land (cost $15,000)
- Completing infrastructure improvements and upgrades necessary to efficiently utilize the land to its full capacity including increasing solar capacity, expanding irrigation systems, building storage sheds, and building farm roadways (cost $26,000)
We are grateful for your support and look forward to continuing to provide you with delicious, fresh, local, chemical-free vegetables for many years to come!
We invite you to follow along on Instagram and Facebook as we share our journey and our successes along the way.
Thank you for your support!
The New Roots Cooperative Farmers,
Jabril, Seynab, Mohamed & Batula
Visit the New Roots Cooperative Farm website
Fundraising team (4)
Omar Hassan
Organizer
Lewiston, ME
Cooperative Development Institute
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
Jasmine Jacobs
Team member
Katherine Bessey
Team member
Lisa Luken
Team member
