The Alan Day Community Garden at 26 Whitman St. in Norway will host the annual “Light the Garden” fundraiser party and silent auction planned for 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 25. Submitted photo

NORWAY  — The annual Light the Garden fundraiser party and silent auction is set for 6-9 p.m. Saturday, June 25, at the Alan Day Community Garden, 26 Whitman St.

The party will include appetizers, beverages and a selection of silent auction items. It will feature acoustic music by solo guitarist Marc Jalbert.

The party is an opportunity to support various programs and the mission of improving community health, access to nutritious foods, youth education and leadership, and building the local food system. The sliding scale entrance fee is $50-$20 for the evening. Attendees are asked to park at the Grange Hall, behind Fare Share Coop, or the Longley Square parking lot.

The garden is a volunteer-driven community gathering place that provides affordable, local food access, with a mission: “We improve our community’s health by providing opportunities to build relationships, learn, and grow food together,” states a news release from the garden organizers.

It provides free and subsidized local food, works with Foothills Foodworks to distribute ready-to-eat meals to food pantries throughout Oxford County, hosts SNAP-Ed cooking classes, and accepts SNAP EBT during their farmers’ market.

This summer the farmers’ market will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Fridays, July 8 through Aug. 26, and will feature live music, wood-fired pizza by donation, a food truck, variety of vendors, and Power of Produce kids club and activity tent.

The garden’s Youth Leadership Program, in collaboration with School Administrative District 17’s Roberts Farm Experiential Learning, is a day camp that teaches kids how to grow, harvest and cook healthy meals, the importance of community resilience, provides science-based learning opportunities, and provides leadership opportunities — returning youth leaders have the opportunity to apply for paid internship positions at the garden.

This summer a new kitchen is being built at the community garden to host more SNAP-Ed cooking workshops and to provide a year-round learning classroom for local schools and youth groups. The kitchen will be open to the community for those who want to develop value-added products and to process vegetables. The kitchen also will be the home of Foothills Foodworks, to continue to provide meals with locally-sourced foods throughout Oxford County.

Foodworks offers free meals at the garden throughout the summer, available to anyone who eats.

For more information, call 207-346-0708.