Blue Hydrangea Tea Party is a national fundraising avenue for ovarian cancer agencies across the country. Its founders are Jennie Camp Hudgins and Elizabeth Ann McCune - the sister and the daughter of Ann Camp McCune, who died October 18th, 2002 of ovarian cancer after a 5 year struggle. As her husband and children will tell you, blue hydrangeas were Ann’s favorite flowers. There’s a strong connection to her memory when any of us see blue hydrangeas, so it seemed to be a natural step to give our tea party concept the name, Blue Hydrangea Tea Party.

We felt that by establishing this annual event it would serve a dual purpose - It would be a living memorial to Ann and a catalyst to bring recognition to this under diagnosed disease that kills our mothers, grandmothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends with its “metastatic” qualities.

Most women with ovarian cancer will tell you that they don’t look at the statistics. The reason? The national statistics paint an incredibly discouraging picture! Recent statistical analysis shows that about half of the women diagnosed with late stage ovarian cancer will die within 5 years and have only a 25% chance of surviving past the 5 year mark. Ann made it to the 5 year average. But when caught early, some statistics show that a little over 90% of ovarian cancer patients can make it past the 5 year average.

Blue Hydrangea Tea Party raised nearly $4000 in its inaugural year through a simple marketing strategy - word of mouth! In our second year we doubled our efforts both in the amount raised and the number of states in which tea parties were held. Donations made at private tea parties across the country go directly to the agencies chosen by our hostesses. We do not take donations; we are not a charitable organization. As a hostess, the monetary contribution raised through the donations of your tea party guests will go to the agency you choose when you host a Blue Hydrangea Tea Party. We support various national and local agencies who work hard to educate women with the vital information about ovarian cancer that can save their lives. We support research, as well, with the hope that a screening tool for the early detection of ovarian cancer will soon be developed.

It is our hope that, as we bring women together through the efforts of our hostesses, Blue Hydrangea Tea Party can raise awareness for ovarian cancer and its symptoms - and sometimes there are vague ones! But, unless you know what to look for, you might not notice them or categorize them as symptoms of ovarian cancer. For now, it’s the best we can do to be mindful, watchful, and persistent with our healthcare.

For those of us eager for progress, we will keep working for better treatments for advanced ovarian cancer and a reliable screening tool to diagnose ovarian cancer in its early stages. Please visit the websites of the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance at www.ovariancancer.org and the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition at www.ovarian.org to learn more about ovarian cancer.

Other helpful websites are The Gilda Radner Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry at www.ovariancancer.com and The Ovarian Cancer Research Fund, Inc. at www.ocrf.org.

BRING OTHER WOMEN INTO THE CIRCLE OF AWARENESS - STIR UP THE CHATTER ABOUT OVARIAN CANCER BY HOSTING A BLUE HYDRANGEA TEA PARTY!