Lower Bucks Support Group Competes for National Prize

Normally, when the members of the Bucks County Breast Friends Support Group meet, it's to continue building a strong bond of friendship and moral support with their fellow breast cancer survivors.

For two days in October, the women changed things up a bit by performing a dance routine at Core Creek Park and taking a tubing trip down the Delaware River, all part of their effort to create a 90-second video that was entered into the Pink Glove Dance contest.

"We had a lot of fun making the video," said Helen Varacallo, a member of the support group for five years. "One of our members got us some space at the George School to rehearse the dance."

The dance, choreographed to Sarah Bareille's hit song "Brave," is the centerpiece of the video, interspersed with scenes of the support group members and their families at the park, in a swimming pool and tubing down the Delaware. The footage was filmed and edited by Lonie Davis and Domenic Melandro, who volunteered their time to help out the group.

Inspired by a video shot in 2009 by employees of Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., the national competition is sponsored by Medline, a medical supply company that sends a box of 100 pink gloves to each group that enters the contest. 

More than 100 videos have been submitted by hospitals, medical centers and other organizations throughout the country. Members of the public can vote for their favorites once per day until the voting period ends on Nov. 8. The winning team, announced on Nov. 15, will receive $25,000 that can be donated to a charity of their choice. Second place receives $10,000, and third place $5,000.

If they win, the Breast Friends of Bucks County plan to donate the prize money to Gilda's Club of Delaware Valley. In order to enter the contest, each group needed to raise and submit a separate $2,000 donation to a local charity. With the help of the Pennsbury Pink Ribbon Club, the Bucks County Breast Friends campaigned for money to benefit the Healing Consciousness Foundation.

"They are a non-profit that helps pay for things that the insurance companies don't usually cover, like massages," said Varacallo. "They help take care of your mental and emotional state during the cancer fight."

As of Oct. 30, the Bucks County Breast Friends' video has 3,495 votes, putting them in the middle of the pack, but well behind larger organizations such as the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, which has more than 17,000 votes.

"A lot of the other videos are coming from large hospitals with public relations departments," said Varacallo. "We're just a community support group, so it's tough to compete with the larger organizations."

Regardless of the outcome, Varacallo and the other support group members enjoyed taking a moment to celebrate their family-like bonds and pay tribute to friends they have lost.

"At the end of the video we are wearing pink top hats," said Varacallo. "They were worn in remembrance of one of our members, Chrissy, who passed away in March. If she was alive, she would have been right there next to us making the video. We know that we are the lucky ones, because not everybody makes it."

Click here to cast a vote for the Bucks County Breast Friends Support Group. Users can vote once per day per video. E-mail registration is required for the first vote. Voting ends Nov. 8, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 15.