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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 occurs when the body's immune system destroys pancreatic cells (beta cells). In healthy persons, beta cells produce insulin. Insulin is a hormone require ...
. 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 Hospital of Orange County or CHOC is a pediatric healthcare system based in Orange County, California. Its flagship hospital, CHOC Hospital Main Campus – Orange, is a pediatric acute care hospital located in Orange, California. The ...
(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
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, 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 Medtronic plc is an American-Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Republic of Ireland, Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to I ...
). 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 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'JaysRosalsky, Mitch. Encyclopedia of Rhythm and Blues and ...
, a friend of Teichmann, expressed interest in helping the group by producing the CD. Barnum had already worked with performers such as
Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
,
Puff Daddy Sean John Combs (born November 4, 1969), better known by his stage name Diddy, and formerly Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, record producer, and record executive. Born in Harlem and raised in Mount Vernon, Combs worked as a ...
and
Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) 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 1970s as a solo singer and ...
. 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 Pediatrics, children's hospital in the East Hollywood, Los Angeles, East Hollywood district of Los Angeles, on Sunset Boulevard at the corner of Vermont Avenue ...
(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 referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was founded on October 16 ...
to begin touring at various Disney parks and
Radio Disney Radio Disney was an American radio network operated by the Disney Radio Networks unit of Disney Branded Television within Disney General Entertainment Content, headquartered in Burbank, California. The network broadcast music programming ...
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
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,
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's World News Tonight with
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, and various other media outlets. Originally from
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, the group has toured throughout the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. The Pump Girls have performed at events sponsored by
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Breakthrough T1D (formerly JDRF) is a type 1 diabetes (T1D) research and advocacy organization. Breakthrough T1D funds research for the development of new therapies and treatments for type 1 diabetes. The organization advocates for federal resear ...
,
American Diabetes Association The American Diabetes Association (ADA) is a United States-based nonprofit that seeks to educate the public about diabetes and to help those affected by it through funding research to manage, cure and prevent diabetes, including type 1 diabetes ...
,
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 Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...
. They have shared the stage with 1999
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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 People with type 1 diabetes Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups from California