Party and Paper Magazine

Party in Pink

It’s unfortunate, but you would be hard pressed to find someone who hasn’t been touched in some way by breast cancer — through a mother, sister, daughter, neighbor, friend — and each year more individuals and organizations have become involved in this quest for a cure.

Enter the Pink Ribbon campaign and the emergence of “pink parties.” While October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and therefore the most popular time for these parties, many retailers are finding out that these parties are popping up all over the country throughout the year.

Last year, stationer chewing the cud connected with Byrd + Bleeker, an event-planning company based in New York and Fort Worth, Texas. Owners of both companies had been touched by the stories of cancer survivors and wanted to find a way to help in the fundraising efforts to promote the advancement of breast cancer research.

“This inspiration gave birth to the concept of Survivor Soiree — a pink party to celebrate the vitality of the women who have survived breast cancer,” said Viola Sutanto, owner of chewing the cud in San Francisco. “The creative strength of both our companies resulted in the 'New Beginnings' letterpress invitations (by chewing the cud) and the 'Sweetness of Life' candy bar (by byrd + bleeker).”

They chose to donate 10 percent of all proceeds and continue to encourage retailers to create awareness by cross-promoting pink products such as pink invitations, pink candy and pink partyware.

“I've been invited to a few of these in recent years,” said Robin Oxley, director of merchandising at Anagram International. “They can vary from fantasy to more of a formal gathering, but the goal is all the same: to raise money for the fight against breast cancer. There is usually an educational element during the party, such as a survivor speaking, a nurse practitioner talking about early detection or an inspirational speaker talking about living life to the fullest.

“Sometimes you can buy products where proceeds go towards research,” she continued. “Some have silent auctions for gift cards, gift baskets and other higher end items.”

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Originally posted Wednesday, Jun. 24, 2009