The Blue Ribbon Campaign first began in Virginia in 1989 when a grandmother tied a blue ribbon to the antenna of her  van “to make people wonder.”  The story she told to inquisitive community members was a tragic story about the abuse  of her grandchildren, which ultimately led to the brutal death of her grandson. 

“It has been so long since I sat by my grandson’s side in the hospital.  Of course, I knew something was wrong as I sat  there, I saw fear on his face, the bruises on his body, and the healing cigarette burns on his hands.  The doctors did  not believe my daughter’s story….’he slipped and fell in the bathtub.”

“After the ordeal at the hospital my grandson was placed in foster care for three weeks.  He cried when they came to  take him back to his mother…..I ached for this dilemma, but I was not physically able to care for him.”

“I never saw him again.  My 16-month old granddaughter was hospitalized after being beaten severely…Her leg broken  in four places and her hand burned from the tip of her little fingers to her wrist.  It was only then that the search was on  for my grandson.  We learned that he had been killed, wrapped in a sheet, stuffed in a toolbox and dumped into the dismal swamp three months earlier.”

My grandchildren had suffered and battled so much throughout their young lives that it sickened me.  My life was turned  into physical and mental chaos.  My efforts to understand became a plea to stop abusing children.  I tied a blue ribbon  on my van antenna to make people wonder.  Why Blue?  I intend never to forget the battered, bruised bodies of my grandchildren.  Blue serves as a constant reminder to me to fight for the protection of our children.”

Since that first Blue Ribbon was tied to the van antenna in 1989, millions of people across the country have participated  in Blue Ribbon campaigns.  Each year more people join the effort by wearing Blue Ribbons, encouraging others to wear  and display them, and getting involved in community activities.