LEWISTON – The Lance Armstrong Foundation has awarded the Central Maine Cancer Center a community program grant to support the Wellness for Life program, which provides group and individualized exercise instruction for people living with cancer.

Some 600 cancer patients will receive nutritional counseling over a two-year period as a result of the grant.

The foundation community program provides financial assistance and practical advice for community-centered cancer survivorship initiatives like Wellness for Life.

CMCC will expand its Wellness for Life program by adding free nutritional consultation services with a registered dietitian. The expansion will allow for additional community education efforts on the importance of exercise and nutrition for cancer prevention and recovery.

CMCC and 30 other nonprofit community organizations across the country recently received foundation grants to help people cope with the physical, emotional and practical challenges of cancer.

“The LAF community program grant plays a vital part in the furthering of CMCC’s mission,” said Kerry Irish, an oncology social worker and the Wellness for Life program coordinator. “We are honored and excited to be among such an extraordinary group of recipients who all share a passion for helping people with cancer live strong.”

CMCC began offering Wellness for Life in September 2004 in response to increasing national attention to the benefits of exercise for cancer patients, during and after treatment, Irish said. Research demonstrates that exercise rehabilitation can significantly improve lung function, energy capacity and muscular endurance and strength, and can decrease fatigue and depression in cancer survivors.

The program currently includes opportunities for individual consultation and evaluation with a personal health counselor/trainer; a group exercise program that incorporates mind/body/spirit modalities; individualized workout sessions; and participation in the Cancer Wellness and Support Group.

“Our patients who have participated in the Wellness for Life program report that they have more energy and feel better both physically and mentally than before they began exercising,” Irish said. “The component that’s been missing for many of our patients is nutritional counseling. Currently, neither Medicare nor most private insurers cover nutritional counseling for people with cancer, and many patients cannot afford to pay privately for those services. The grant will allow 600 or more cancer patients access to the service over the two-year period, and will allow us to evaluate the impact of those interventions.”

“We are pleased to support CMCC in its efforts to improve the quality of life of cancer survivors and their loved ones,” said Andy Miller, associate director of public health at the foundation. “Together, we are helping people with cancer live strong.”

For more information about the Central Maine Cancer Center, call 795-2935 or visit www.cmmc.org. For more information on the foundation, visit livestrong.org.