Brotherly Love: Pump It Up For Diabetes
Dave Huddleston reports...
WEST CHESTER, Pa. (CBS) -- A group of West Chester teens are making a difference by helping to raise money to cure diabetes. We first met the group Pump It Up two years ago, and they've been growing ever since.
It was a Jonas Brothers concert four years ago--where the band encouraged the audience to get involved in their community--that put the wheels in motion for four teens from West Chester.
"It depends on what you do to help others, not what you do for yourself," said Morgan Mullen in 2009.
She was a member of Pump It Up, a group of young women raising awareness and money to help find a cure for diabetes. Now the group has grown to six.
"It's incredible to think [that] four years ago, we started with just four of us, and now having six of us, and having more than one event each year, it's just amazing how it's grown so fast," said Morgan, now 17.
They've also raised $20,000 selling bracelets and gift baskets and organizing family-friendly carnival events with games and bounce houses.
"It's great to help people," member Brianna Pagliei said. "I'm very proud to be a part of this group."
Now, the Jonas Brothers are old friends who often wear Pump It Up t-shirts and bracelets. Nick Jonas also has type 1 diabetes, like Pump It Up's youngest member, 8-year-old Jillian Washco.
"I have to prick myself, and I have to go to the nurse's every day," Jillian said.
But with Pump It Up, Jillian can educate others and help find a cure for diabetes.
"She has helped so much, and I think she's going to be in this for a very long time," said Amanda Wolf, 19.
Emma Pagliei, 13, used to be the youngest in the group, before Jillian came along.
"Now that she's the youngest one, she's a really big part of this," said Emma. "She really wants to help."
Pump It Up just held a fundraiser this weekend. In one day, they collected more than $4000.
For more information on Pump It Up, click here.
Reported by Dave Huddleston, CBS3
