Dear Friends,
It feels like only yesterday that I was writing to you from my old workspace, a pile of crates in the back of the copy room in Radiation Oncology at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC). Today’s Healing Harvest program at Dartmouth Cancer Center (DCC) is unrecognizable from just one year ago, and our team often pauses to marvel at how far we’ve come. Instead of unloading groceries from the back of my SUV, the DHMC shipping and receiving team delivers pallets of food to us every single day. Last December, we were filling seven orders a day. This December, on any given morning, we may already have seven orders placed before we open at 8 a.m.
I have lots of exciting data to share with you all.
Custom-designed space opened in February
Our new program office, affectionately known as “HH HQ,” opened with a ribbon cutting and community celebration earlier this year. The new build, made possible by funds raised at The Prouty, was carefully planned to maximize patient accessibility and storage space for our rapidly growing program. It even features a welcoming mural, which was painted together by staff, patients, and volunteers in the awareness colors for every kind of cancer.
Expanding locations and new ways to order
Healing Harvest opens in Bennington
Dartmouth Cancer Center Bennington, located at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC), launched a new Healing Harvest program to support patients experiencing food insecurity.
“This represents a huge step towards our goal of offering Healing Harvest services to food-insecure patients at every Dartmouth Cancer Center location,” said Julia Boger Hawkins.
Our flagship location at DHMC in Lebanon offers customizable grocery ordering. Recently, DCC Bennington, at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center (SVMC) in Bennington, VT, began offering shelf-stable grocery bags. By 2035, we aim to offer Healing Harvest services at all six of our DCC locations.
With three ways to order groceries, patients can access Healing Harvest from DCC at home, or on the go. Patients who have smartphones or computers can order anytime, anywhere by visiting toasttab.com/healingharvest. For those who need more assistance with ordering, we offer a touchscreen ordering kiosk at our DHMC location outside of 2K, Radiation Oncology, Level 2. The kiosk is wheelchair accessible, offers reading glasses for those who have forgotten their own, and includes help from staff and volunteers if needed.
All about the people
The space and technology mean nothing without the amazing people behind the coordination of Healing Harvest.
5 local producers provide us with top-quality, nutritious food year-round. King Arthur Baking Company donates bread once a week, and we also purchase bread from Red Hen Baking Company in Middlesex, VT. Upper Valley Produce delivers fresh fruits and vegetables, and McNamara Dairy brings milk right to our door. Finally, Cedar Circle Farm and Education Center in Thetford, VT has collaborated with us to launch the Healing Meals program. After a long day of treatment, our patients can take home ready-to-eat meals that are made with organic produce and cooked with love.
10 fellows and interns have helped us out this year. We have hosted interns from Project SEARCH, Schweitzer fellows from Dartmouth's Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth Master of Public Health candidates and undergraduates, and a dietetic program intern. All of these students have brought unique perspectives and expertise to Healing Harvest, and have learned the ins and outs of community nutrition in the process.
25 amazing volunteers are the driving force behind Healing Harvest. Nothing we do would be possible without this highly dedicated team, which includes cancer survivors, retired and current doctors and nurses, and many passionate Prouty volunteers.
1,000+ cancer patients have utilized Healing Harvest services in 2025 alone! This represents about 8% of all cancer patients who receive treatment at DHMC, and includes patients from every cancer subgroup. Patients come to Healing Harvest for a variety of reasons, including the high cost of groceries, treatment-related physical disabilities, lack of access to reliable transportation, and being too immunocompromised to go to the grocery store. We believe that food is medicine, and we are honored to offer any patient in need the nutrition they need to heal.
By the numbers
In all, our team has distributed more than 12,000 bags of groceries in 2025! Thanks to your support, $500,000 of Prouty and Friends of Dartmouth Cancer Center funding has been allocated to the Healing Harvest program for the coming year. We believe in using donor funds to create positive community cycles of generosity and impact. We use money raised by the community to purchase nutritious foods from local farmers, and then provide that food free-of-charge to patients and families in need facing cancer. The funds raised by our community stay in our community—each one of your dollars contributes to healthier people, a healthier economy, and a healthier planet.
Healing Harvest would not exist without the generosity of our community. Many hands make each order possible—from the walkers, bikers, rowers, and golfers of The Prouty, to the providers who recognize patients in need, and the volunteers, interns, and fellows who pack every bag with care.
The impact of our collective work is best summarized by a thank-you card from one of our patients, who writes: “For those of us who live palliatively, food is love. And love is healing.”
With love, gratitude, and excitement for 2026,
Julia Boger-Hawkins
Healing Harvest Program Manager