The Pump Girls were a musical group which became popular in 1998. The group consisted of four girls who met through an organization for children with diabetes:
*Brittany Rausch
(1998-2005)
*Colleen Cottrell
(1998-2000)
*Sara Cronstadt
(1998-2000)
*Janelle Munion
(1998-1999)
All of the group's original members, and all but one of the subsequent members, were diagnosed with
type 1 diabetes
Type 1 diabetes (T1D), formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune disease that originates when cells that make insulin (beta cells) are destroyed by the immune system. Insulin is a hormone required for the cells to use blood sugar ...
. The name of the group comes from a type of portable insulin pump which the girls would wear to help them manage the diabetes more easily. One of the goals of the group was to foster diabetes awareness and support by letting their peers see that they can still have a fun and active life while dealing with diabetes, promoting the idea that diabetes should never keep you from achieving your dreams.
The genesis of the group occurred around early 1997. The original members met through an organization at
Children's Hospital of Orange County
Children's Health of Orange County or CHOC is a pediatric healthcare system based in Orange County, California, is committed to being a leading destination for children’s health by providing exceptional and innovative care. Its flagship hospita ...
(CHOC) known as the PADRE Foundation (Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes Research and Education), which provides youth and their families with positive support, programs and services to assist in living with Type 1 Diabetes. At a PADRE support group meeting, Corrie Rausch (mother of group member Brittany) jokingly came up with the idea of the singing group as a parody of the
Spice Girls, and wrote lyrics to a song they could perform. In February, at an annual winter family retreat sponsored by PADRE and the ADA (American Diabetes Association), the group performed the song in a sketch.
The performance attracted the attention of a pharmaceutical representative from diabetes pump manufacturer MiniMed Technologies (now part of
Medtronic). MiniMed contacted PADRE director Jackie Teichmann with interest in having the group perform live, and ultimately financing an album/CD. Music producer
H. B. Barnum
Hidle Brown Barnum (born July 15, 1936) is an American pianist, arranger, record producer, songwriter, and former child actor.
Biography
After winning a nationwide talent contest at the age of four and starring in the film ''Valley of the Su ...
of
Little Star Records
Little Star Records was an independent label that was founded by music industry veteran H. B. Barnum in 1961.
Among the artists that recorded for the label include Jimmy Cavallo, The O'Jays
The O'Jays are an American R&B group from Canto ...
, a friend of Teichmann, expressed interest in helping the group by producing the CD. Barnum had already worked with performers such as
Aretha Franklin,
Puff Daddy and
Barry White
Barry Eugene Carter (September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003), better known by his stage name Barry White, was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came ...
. In the spring of 1998 the Pump Girls had their public debut and CD launch at
Children's Hospital Los Angeles
Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital in the East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue. The hospital has been academically affi ...
(CHLA) with much media coverage. Shortly after releasing the CD, the group had more publicity and many high profile TV and live public performances, and partnered with
the Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
to begin touring at various Disney parks and
Radio Disney events.
There have been a number of personnel changes over the years. The original incarnation of the group was to have included a fifth member, Jamie Khoury. Khory spent months rehearsing the songs and dance steps with the group, but she ultimately took the path to continue her education without the distraction of being in the group.
More recent Pump Girls have included:
* Sarah Ann Carey
(2000-2002, replaced Janelle Munion)
* Nicole Shiley Kukuruda
(2000, replaced Sara Cronstadt & Colleen Cottrell)
* Debbie Lemus
(2000-2005, replaced Nicole Shiley Kukuruda)
*Chelsea Unger
(2002, replaced Sarah Ann Carey)
* Heather Faland
(2003-2005 replaced Chelsea Unger)
While Chelsea Unger was the only member of the group who didn't have diabetes herself, she was supportive of her father in dealing with his own diabetes for which he wore the portable insulin pump.
The Pump Girls have been featured on
CNN
CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by ...
,
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
's World News Tonight with
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings (July 29, 1938August 7, 2005) was a Canadian-born American television journalist who served as the sole anchor of ''ABC World News Tonight'' from 1983 until his death from lung cancer in 2005. He dropped o ...
,
and various other media outlets. Originally from
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, the group has toured throughout the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. The Pump Girls have performed at events sponsored by
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation,
American Diabetes Association,
American Association of Diabetes Educators
The Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (formerly American Association of Diabetes Educators, or AADE) is a multidisciplinary membership organization for healthcare professionals who specialize in teaching patients about diabetes a ...
PADRE Foundation and have had exposure on Radio Disney and the
Disney Channel.
They have shared the stage with 1999
Miss America Nicole Johnson, who also has type 1 diabetes and is herself an advocate of diabetes awareness.
Johnson mentioned the group in her 2001 autobiography ''Living with Diabetes'': "The Pump Girls, a group of talented teens from Southern California, met at camp and formed a singing group. They all are "pumpers" like me and they are a huge inspiration to youngsters with diabetes — and adults, too!"
According to an archived version of the group's website (defunct as of 2010), the final event at which the group actively performed was the California School Nurses Annual Conference, Hollywood, February 2005.
The Pump Girls could possibly be confused with an unrelated group of the same name, also known as "DZ's Pump Girls", a Chicago hip house dance club group with two vinyl LP singles in the 1980s.
References
External links
June 1, 1999 ''DiabetesHealth'' article
{{authority control
American girl groups
American pop music groups
Diabetes
Musical groups established in 1997
Musical groups from California