UV Safety Awareness Month: Bringing Sun Safety to Families Across SW Virginia
For UV (Ultraviolet) Safety Awareness Month, CACV spotlights Meagan Graham, an Outreach and Education Specialist with the UVA Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Office of Community Outreach and Engagement. Across the New River Valley and beyond, she connects communities with accessible cancer prevention education, including sun safety resources designed for children, families, and local partners.
Through visits to Head Start programs, early childhood centers, libraries, community events, and monthly skin exam opportunities, Meagan helps students and families learn practical ways to protect themselves from UV exposure. Her work is grounded in relationship-building: listening to communities, identifying gaps, and adapting resources to meet local needs.
One example of meeting local needs is the Storytime activity. At a local library, children gather around a sun safety lesson, then decorate bucket hats they can wear outside. While they color and create, Meagan talks with parents about practical ways to protect their families from UV exposure. It is a simple activity with a serious purpose: helping sun-safe habits start early and stick.
UVA offers free tools such as the evidence-based Sunbeatables curriculum for pre-K through fifth grade, which uses a superhero theme to teach children about sun protection. Other available resources include sun-safe behavior cards, and a recent addition: Understanding Skin Cancer, a community conversation workshop for fraternal organizations, employers, libraries, and similar groups. Meagan encourages healthcare providers, community organizations, and individuals to reach out when they identify a prevention need or education gap in their community
Sun safety remains a critical public health issue because UV exposure is the most preventable risk factor for skin cancer, yet many people still underestimate its impact. Misinformation about skin cancer and sunscreen can spread quickly, but Meagan reminds communities that all skin tones are vulnerable to UV damage and benefit from protection. She also notes that the FDA recently approved bemotrizinol as a new active sunscreen ingredient—the first such addition in more than 20 years – expanding safe sunscreen options for consumers.
“The best sunscreen is the sunscreen you will actually put on.” Whether it is a spray, lotion, stick, or powder, Meagan encourages Virginians to choose a sunscreen they will use consistently and make sun protection part of daily life.
As a CACV member, Meagan values being part of a statewide coalition focused on action and measurable change. She sees the Virginia Cancer Plan as a guide for her work and draws energy from partners working together to reduce the burden of cancer across the Commonwealth.
If you are interested in learning more about Sunbeatables, click here.
Previous Member Highlights
June 2026: Honoring Cancer Survivors Month: Michelle Futrell, Director of Lung Cancer Screening Programs and Initiatives at LUNGevity and a member of the CACV Board of Directors, Read Article
March 2026: Colon Cancer Awareness Month: Mindy Conklin, founder and Executive Director of Hitting Cancer Below the Belt (HCB2), Read Article
Know a CACV member making an impact?
We’d love to feature them in an upcoming Member Highlight. Contact us at cacv@cancercoalitionofvirginia.org.
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