THE PUMP GIRLS

FROM THE EDITOR: The Pump Girls are a southern California singing/dancing group on the Spice Girls Model. Their clean, catchy teen-beat party tunes deal with life, fun, boys, and living with diabetes. This makes them just a little bit different.

The four Pump Girls, Sara Cronstedt, Colleen Elizabeth Cottrell, Brittany Rausch, and Janelle Munion, do not look like crusaders. Ranging in age from 12 to 15, they look like what they are, California teenagers with common interests.

One of those interests is diabetes. The Pump Girls (who all have type 1) met at a diabetes camp sponsored by the diabetes support group PADRE (Pediatric Adolescent Diabetes Research and Education Foundation). They started singing together, and found they were good at it. Jackie Teichmann, executive director at PADRE, thought so too, and took the girls to a record producer, and the rest is history.

But that's not all of it! There are a lot of singers in southern California, but how many of them volunteer to donate a share of their record sales to charity? The Pump Girls (who take their name from the insulin pumps they wear to help manage their diabetes) are giving part of their profits to their own "Pump for a Better Life" fund, dedicated to assisting children around the world who are in need of insulin pump therapy, and whose parents can't afford the pump.

The Pump Girls are helping to spread the word. There have been insulin pumps for a number of years. Even the current Miss America, Nicole Johnson, is a diabetic and pump user. But a lot of people remember the complexity of early pumps, and there is a lot of reluctance to use this therapy with a child, or with an active teenager. The Pump Girls know from very personal experience what good control the insulin pump can bring—and, as Sara (age 14) says: "We're all about spreading diabetes awareness to other kids, other adults even, about insulin pumps, what they do for you, and how they make a big difference in your life."

Brittany, at age 12 the youngest Pump Girl, states: "There are a lot of kids who have really bad problems with diabetes, and we're trying to help them."

There is no better way to teach than by example. Janelle, at 15 the oldest Pump Girl, says: "I hope with the Pump Girls we can get out there and show how good we're doing, to show other teens, children, and even adults, as Sara was saying, how easy the pump is for better control and just better lifestyle." Quality of life.

How do the Pump Girls know what they're talking about? Experience. Janelle, the oldest, was diagnosed at age eight months. Brittany, the youngest, was diagnosed at the age of two. Sara was six; Colleen was seven. That makes 38 years of diabetes experience. And major studies in the U.S. and Europe have proved that good tight diabetes control, keeping your blood glucose as close to non-diabetic "normal" levels as possible, is the best way to deter diabetes complications, like kidney disease, nerve disease, and eye disease. Tight control takes frequent insulin administration, and the insulin pump can be the most convenient way to do just that. Pump Girl Colleen (age 13) says of her pump: "It keeps you on a regular lifestyle as opposed to the lot of shots you'd have to take..." Pumps work.

So do the Pump Girls. Since they started singing together (in February of 1998) there have been practice sessions, performances in Orange County (their home) and shows for diabetic groups. They recorded their first CD (more hard work with producers, engineers, and session musicians), and on March 9, they launched their "Whirl" tour (media stops, performances, and special events at children's hospitals and schools), kicking off with an event at Tower Records on Hollywood's Sunset Boulevard. As of press time, they are scheduled to appear in New York and Chicago, too.

We are expecting great things from the Pump Girls, and from the message they carry. If you want to hear their music, their CD (and cassette), titled "The Pump Girls," should be at major record outlets. For more information, see the Pump Girls website: http://www.members.home.net/ cottrell.11/pumpgirls/default3.htm.