As we embarked upon our fourth year of Blue Hydrangea Tea Party events, I had no idea what to expect - what with the sudden decline in the economy and approaching the worst unemployment numbers since 1982. The reality is that many people are having difficulty making ends meet and those who have extra money are wisely holding on to it…”just in case.” However, I kept holding on to the fact that, in the midst of that horrible job market of 1982, my then future husband found a great job right out of college and only a few months before we were to walk down the aisle! Although I had no expectations for breaking any records this year with our ovarian cancer awareness tea party fundraisers, I believe now that this campaign is as strong as ever, maybe even stronger in many ways.

What I have noticed this year, as the totals have come in, is the increase in larger single-party totals. This is encouraging, because it supports our belief that when we work together and focus our efforts, we CAN make a significant difference in the national landscape of ovarian cancer awareness. We are far from nationally known, but we continue to broaden our circle of awareness, consistently adding new states each year. More and more women across the country are becoming familiar with and attending Blue Hydrangea Tea Party events, which means that more women are hearing the vital message about ovarian cancer in the process!

This year we registered 10 events and received reports from 8 of them. These reports are as follows:

The Historic Shopping District of La Grange, Kentucky, sponsored their 2nd BHTP event and raised $5292 for the OAK

The Melanie Finley Ovarian Cancer Foundation once again held an event in Florida which raised $2000. Another event in Pennsylvania raised $2,400, as well. These donations will benefit their foundation work.

Candy Carberry, of New York, hosted her annual event and raised a record $2000 for the Gilda Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry.

Missi LaFave, of Michigan, hosted her 2nd BHTP event, raising $1950 for the Alpena Cancer Center.

Blanche West and her group at the River Valley Chapter of the NOCC, in Arkansas, held their 2nd BHTP event and raised $814 for their agency’s work.

Vickie Arnold and her fellow committee members at Immanuel Lutheran Church, in Tennessee, raised $600 for the Middle Tennessee NOCC.

Janet Prince, of South Carolina, hosted an event that raised $580 for the SCOCF-Riverbanks Region, which is affilicated with the OCNA.

The Camp/McCune/Hudgins family, of both Carolinas contributed $225 to the SCOCF, a partner member of the OCNA.

Ladies, I think this may be our finest hour!! Last year, 11 registered parties raised $16,346. This year, we have 8 parties reporting, with 2 outstanding, but we can already see that at $15,861 we will likely hold fairly steady for this year. The bottom line is that we didn’t lose any ground, despite the current economic decline!

Now, if you hosted a BHTP event this year and do not see your results posted here, PLEASE let me know. It would be my absolute delight to post a new total that surpasses last year! Email a synopsis of your event to jennie@BHTP.ORG .