Afternoon Tea anyone?

What began as a simple afternoon tea with a few good friends has turned into an annual fundraising event with personal significance for Liz DelCiancio.


After visiting England with her daughter Sarah in 2008 and attending a traditional Afternoon Tea, the mother-daughter duo decided it would be fun to bring the experience home and share it with a few of their closest friends. The women celebrated International Woman’s Day in 2009 over afternoon tea and enjoyed themselves so much that they decided to make it an annual event to benefit a local charity.

The charity of choice wouldn’t become clear to Liz until later that year, after discovering a lump in her breast. Last December Liz was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma – the most common form of breast cancer. Following a lumpectomy and axillary dissection to determine if the cancer had spread to surrounding lymph nodes, Liz began the long road on her treatment journey, which includes three months of chemotherapy.

In February Liz attended a workshop at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre to learn how to apply make-up, wigs and scarves in anticipation of the inevitable hair loss that is a common side effect of chemotherapy drugs. And then on March 1st, instead of dealing with the gradual loss of her hair, Liz shaved her head. While shopping for her own wigs, it became clear to Liz where she wanted to donate the proceeds from her tea parties: the Image Enhancement Room at the Cancer Centre. The program provides wigs, hats and scarves to those experiencing hair loss due to cancer treatment, at no cost, because many cancer patients simply don’t have insurance coverage to purchase wigs.

And so on March 20th, Liz held the first annual “Elizabethan Afternoon Tea” at her home. The group assembled enjoyed tea sandwiches, scones and jam, a selection of desserts and a variety of teas. The wonderful staff of the Cancer Centre and the Ontario Breast Screening Program donated tea cups for the event which in a mere two hours raised over $2,000! Plans are already underway to take the event out-of-doors next year to accommodate even more woman for a garden party, complete with fancy hats!

Liz hopes to travel back to England next summer with Sarah and attend the Queen’s Tea Party.

Donations to the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre are accepted through the Windsor & Essex County Cancer Centre Foundation, an independent, community-based and volunteer-led charity. It has raised more than $15 million in the community over 14 years, which has enabled the purchase of equipment, including state-of-the-art MRI and CT scanners, and enhancements to patient care and treatment at the Windsor Regional Cancer Centre. Funds are also used to assist cancer patients in need and to support locally-based cancer research. 100% of all funds raised are used in and for the Windsor-Essex community.

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