Souper fundraiser

I spent last night chopping, sauteing, spicing, pouring and stirring. I made two giant pots of soup for a Team Tina fundraiser. My pots of soup were so big, I had to send poor Michael down to the basement to find a bigger pot. Then he was sent on a mission to borrow his sister's stock pot. But the efforts were well worth it.

An amazing group of friends made this souper fundraiser a success by selling tickets and then creating and/or serving soup, buying crackers, ordering extra bowls, cleaning up or talking up the event.

We had the most tantalizing array of soups from which to choose - sweet potato and coconut, chicken vegetable, butternut squash and apple, roasted cauliflower, Dutch meatball, spicy sausage and vegetable (affectionately known as pig in the garden) and even blueberry dessert soup, just to name a few. At times, the line up was out the door and down the hall from the meeting room we succonded for the event.

Of course, we held the event on the warmest day of the spring so far. There we stood, in a room full of steaming soup and eager consumers, wearing our rubber gloves and ladling up concoctions made with love. Throw in a few of my hot flashes and I was sweating buckets.

But it was all for a good cause. Team Tina is once again participating in the Run for Ovarian Cancer on May 16. All proceeds from this event support a local research team who works both in the lab and with ovarian cancer patients to develop new ways to detect and treat this silent stalker.

I visited the labs back in December and these dedicated researchers are working diligently so fewer women will die of this horrible disease. With earlier detection and better treatment, perhaps the future will allow doctors to find ovarian cancer earlier, treat it via less toxic methods and save more lives. Ideally, the total eradication of cancer would be the best discovery.

Team Tina sweated to contribute to ovarian cancer research today and raised $425 for the efforts. I'm so very proud and thankful to everyone who made the souper fundraiser a success.

Of course, this is a great time for me to encourage you to join Team Tina. I invite you to run or donate. Every dollar helps.

Tina