Donate To
The Food Pantry

About The Dartmouth Cancer Center Food Pantry

Healing Harvest began its life in 2022 as the Dartmouth Cancer Center Food Pantry. An oncology social worker noticed that many of the patients she worked with reported struggling to put food on the table during cancer treatment, and she was determined to do something about it. She began the DCC Food Pantry as a pilot project, and was able to serve 150 families in the first 6 months of the program’s existence. These early days confirmed our fear that food insecurity is an epidemic among cancer patients, and set the stage for many years of much-needed program expansion.

In 2024, funding from the Prouty allowed the DCC Food Pantry to hire its first full-time Program Manager! This ushered in an era of rapid growth, with the number of patients served more than tripling in under a year.

We have also made strides on many other fronts, including:

• Rebranding to Healing Harvest in order to emphasize the Food is Medicine concept and reduce stigma for patients who may be hesitant to utilize a food pantry
• Opening a custom–built program space outside of 2K, Radiation Oncology, complete with a community mural showcasing fruits and vegetables in every cancer awareness color
• Launching an online ordering platform (toasttab.com/healingharvest) which allows patients to place personalized grocery orders from the infusion suite, inpatient oncology, or even the comfort of their own homes!
• Recruiting more than 20 amazing new Healing Harvest volunteers, many of whom are cancer survivors who received treatment right here at DHMC!
• Improving supply chain logistics, which allows us to provide the highest-quality foods including local produce, milk from McNamara Dairy, bread from Red Hen Baking Company, and organic pantry staples from UNFI

Healing Harvest is making big strides, but we still have a long way to go. In 2024, we were able to reach 6% of the cancer patient population who receive treatment here at DHMC. By 2035, we aim to provide free, nutritious groceries to food–insecure patients at every Dartmouth Cancer Center location.

Your Support Will Make A Difference

Every dollar donated to Healing Harvest helps our cancer patients put food on the table for themselves and their families. Not only do patients benefit from saving money on groceries, they gain time, convenience, and, critically for those who are immunocompromised, protection from unnecessary exposure to contagious illnesses when they can skip a trip to the store. A thank you card from one of our patients said it best- “For those of us who live palliatively, food is love. And love is healing.”

For just $35, you can buy groceries for one cancer patient and their family. Larger gifts can have an even bigger impact- for example, $180 covers a milk delivery from McNamara Dairy, and $500 buys a week of Red Hen bread for every family enrolled in the program. $7,500 provides a week of food for more than 150 cancer patients and their families. Every dollar counts, and donations of any size show our patients that they are not alone- there is a whole community of people who stand behind them on their treatment journey. On behalf of patients, family members, and the entire DCC community, we thank you for your support!