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RICHMOND, Va. – July 16, 2025 – Officials from VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center awarded the center’s first $50,000 harvest grant to the Free Clinic of Powhatan (FCP), extending a commitment to the clinic’s “Eat Well, Be Well,” pilot nutrition program.

 The harvest grant will enable FCP to bolster its “Eat Well, Be Well” program, allowing the clinic to provide a deeper level of intervention and support to its program participants. The clinic will now be able to offer group and individual behavioral health support to foster important behavioral changes, nutrition classes to supplement initial education classes, group grocery shopping and cooking classes to teach strategies for shopping and cooking on a budget, group walks to provide an opportunity for social engagement and exercise, and videos of the nutrition classes with Spanish subtitles – all targeting behavioral changes that will help prevent cancer.

 “Our clinic doesn’t just treat illness - we equip people with the tools they need to stay well,” said Elizabeth Ream, executive director of the Free Clinic of Powhatan. “Through the harvest grant from Massey, our team will empower patients to set their own health goals using a value-based approach, while providing nutrition education and ongoing coaching along the way.

 “We believe that health doesn’t start in the exam room - it starts with nutrition, knowledge, and community. Our ‘Eat Well, Be Well’ program is more than an education series; it’s an opportunity to highlight the everyday choices that can help prevent cancer and support healthier lives.”

Through group-based education, the “Eat Well, Be Well” program emphasizes research-based information about the powerful role that food can play in preventing cancer and chronic conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease and hypertension. Cancer and nutrition are deeply interconnected, with a growing body of evidence showing that dietary choices play a pivotal role in cancer prevention, progression and survivorship. A balanced diet rich in plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds provides essential nutrients, fiber, and phytochemicals that help neutralize free radicals and reduce chronic inflammation, key drivers of cancer development.

“We are thrilled that the Free Clinic of Powhatan continues to demonstrate impact in our communities by addressing food insecurity and promoting healthy eating as a cancer risk prevention strategy,” said Arnethea Sutton, Ph.D., assistant director of community outreach and engagement at Massey. “The harvest grant will provide the clinic an opportunity to continue this work by offering group-based and 1:1 nutrition counseling to community members. Additionally, they will lead grocery store trips to practice reading nutrition labels, and they will encourage healthy cooking through group-based cooking demonstrations.”

“By reaching and engaging our rural neighbors with these impactful interventions, the clinic's work will accelerate Massey’s commitment to reducing the burden of cancer for everyone, including the hidden populations living within our catchment area,” added Kim Rhoads, M.D., M.S., MPH, Massey’s associate director for community outreach and engagement.

Massey experts Alex Lucas, Ph.D., Moriah Bellissimo, Ph.D., RD, and Samantha Haswell, M.S., RD, provided guidance on the nutritional program to ensure it met the needs of the community.

“For my part in nutrition work, I was able to share some work conducted by experts with the groups so that they know what has previously been successful in populations they are serving,” remarked Bellissimo, a postdoctoral fellow at Massey and the VCU School of Medicine. “I enjoyed meeting people who are the boots on the ground impacting peoples’ lives for the betterment of their community’s health.”

According to the most current data available from the Virginia Department of Health, the Central Health Region, which includes the Free Clinic of Powhatan’s service area, ranks second among the state’s five health regions for diabetes, high blood cholesterol, and hypertension, and ranks the highest for stroke. Colorectal cancer ranks fourth among the top ten cancers in the Central region, with Amelia and Cumberland Counties being part of the health district with the highest rate of incidence for this cancer in the state.

Previously, the Free Clinic of Powhatan was a recipient of a seed grant from Massey in 2024, with the overall goal of empowering patients to prevent and or manage cancer and chronic conditions through a “Food is Medicine” approach.

Massey's Seed to Harvest Community Grant initiatives enable Massey to collaboratively support the efforts of partner organizations as they work within communities to intentionally reduce the cancer burden for all Virginians, particularly for the most at-risk populations we serve. The awards promote community partnerships and improve cancer health outcomes through three levels of funding - seed, cultivate, and harvest - for community-based programming and initiatives.

For more information about this or other Massey Community Grant projects, or to be made aware of upcoming requests for proposals, please contact Michael Gesme at engagemassey@vcu.edu or (804) 628-0896.

Written by: Bill Potter