LEWISTON — St. Mary’s Nutrition Center has split from St. Mary’s Health System, rebranding itself while offering the same programs and services.

Gather to Grow unveiled its new name and logo during a ceremony attended by roughly 50 people Tuesday at its 208 Bates St. community hub. The name was developed through input from the community.

The logo features a heart, tomato, fork, beet, honey bee and a seedling held by two different hands. However, Executive Director Kirsten Walter says that the organization’s new brand is less important than its actions.

“A name is at the end of the day, just the name,” she said. “It’s really how you how you live it and bring it to life.”

It will offer the same services just under a different identity and with more autonomy, she said. Gather to Grow now has a board and it is being fiscally sponsored by Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, which will provide it with administrative support.

The organization started in 1999 as a community garden program serving 14 families, Walter said. It partnered with St. Mary’s the following year and added more programs over the years to include a food pantry that serves more than 500 households per week, community gardens serving 170 households, school garden programs in all but one of Lewiston’s elementary schools and a jobs program related to gardening.

While Walter credits St. Mary’s as being a strong supporter of the organization and continues to help it transition to an independent nonprofit, being independent will allow the organization to make changes faster to address community needs, she said.

“It made sense to turn a page in the book and become a standalone nonprofit,” she said. “And the St. Mary’s leadership and board has been very supportive and incredibly collaborative and kind of intentional … to make sure that we do this well.”

The organization will continue to be supported through grants and donations, she said. Programs will remain consistent for the time being as members of the organization navigate this adjustment period before looking to expand in the future.

With 10 employees and numerous volunteers donating thousands of hours of time ever year, work could not be done without them.

Tuesday’s gathering was meant to be small, but Gather to Grow will host a larger event next month, to which community partners, program participants and others from the public will be invited, she said.

Though the name is changing not much else will change for those who use its programs.

“This is the same roots, same program, same great people, same location,” Walter said. “It’s just a new name and a new way of structure … a new organization kind of growing out of the Nutrition Center. So, you can think of it as the next chapter for the Nutrition Center. But it was so important to us that we would be here for our community.”

To learn more information about its programs visit gathertogrowmaine.org or email [email protected].