NEWS

12 babies strike a pose to fight breast cancer

William Westhoven
@WWesthoven

MONTVILLE - Real men wear pink. And they aren't afraid to work with babies, either.

Dave Scelba, CEO of 3E Public Relations, center, prepares for a video shoot at SGW Integrated Marketing Communications in Montville with nearly a dozen toddlers to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign on September 6, 2016.

Dave Scelba stands among the real men who are stepping up to support the American Cancer Society's "Real Men Wear Pink" campaign.

Scelba, chairman and CEO of SGW Integrated Marketing Communications, 3E Public Relations and Changebridge Productions, is quite literally putting his money, business and even his extended family where his mouth is.

The morning after Labor Day, Scelba and his team of professionals got down to business creating a multimedia fundraising campaign, herding a dozen babies and small children into the pink-lined studio set utilized for photo and video shoots at his company headquarters and production studio on Changebridge Road.

The kids, ranging in age from 4 months to 4 years, offered occasional cooperation — "We had a script, but it's pretty hard with this many kids"— Scelba insisted as he tried to get his one line out: "So I asked some of my best friends to come here and help me."

As babies continued to run in every direction, Scelba explained how the scene they were shooting would be integrated into a longer video pitch for people to contribute to his "Real Men Wear Pink" campaign, part of the ACS's "Real Men Wear Pink in Parsippany" competition.

Groups from other towns and regions are sponsoring similar drives, organized as "friendly competitions" of "hand-selected influential men" from a given area, according to Sandra Schler, a senior market manager for the ACS chapter based in the Cedar Knolls section of Hanover.

Ten other men have been recruited to the "Real Mean Wear Pink of Parsippany" competition, including Rob Schnapp of the Coyne Agency in Parsippany and Darren Magarro of the DSM Group in Bergen County.

"This is a joint effort," he said. "SGW is one of the companies that I own, but I'm also a partner in Changebridge Productions and 3EPR. The really wonderful thing is we are able to utilize all of the different companies and what they do best. We can do all of it in-house as we do for our clients. SGW (a marketing company) is providing support, we're shooting it here at Changebridge and 3EPR will be handling all of the social media networks (and organized the shoot), so it will be on Facebook, and Twitter and Instagram. We want to go viral with this."

"The American Cancer Society has an event every October called 'Making Strides Against Breast Cancer' and 100 percent of the funds raised go to the fight breast cancer," Schler explained as she held her 4-month-old granddaughter, Gianna Kane, who was part of the shoot. "Usually, women are the movers and shakers of this undertaking. This year, we're trying to get more men involved for a number of reasons. For thing, 2,500 men a year are diagnosed with breast cancer. In addition to that, everyone of the 247,000 women diagnosed are someone's mother, daughter, sister, aunt or friend. It affects everyone."

Whichever man in the Garden State raises the most funds by the end of October is awarded a prize and the unofficial title of "Real Man of New Jersey."

"We're taping adorable babies to make everyone go 'aww,' but also to say 'Wouldn't you like to save their lives?" Schler said. "We want to wipe out breast cancer so that this generation doesn't have to worry about it. We want to get it off the table as a health risk for the next generation."

Scelba said his three companies, including several employees, are donating their time, facilities and expertise to the cause.

"The reason we're so involved is that over the years, we have had too many people in our own companies that have come down with breast cancer," he said. "We lost an employee here to breast cancer a few years ago. I am a cancer survivor myself. And it's not just about the money. It's having a really good campaign to raise awareness that breast cancer affects everyone. The final product is a video that will be emailed through all of our lists, clients, potential clients, private contacts, and then there will be a whole social-media campaign through our 3EPR."

Some nepotism was involved in the casting as three of Scelba's grandchildren were involved in the shoot, as were children of a few other employees. But outside parents were rallied to the cause as well.

"My good friend, Lee, works here and she told me about what she's working on, and of course we didn't hesitate to come and support it," said Lacey Vitetta of the Pompton Plains section of Pequannock, who brought her daughter, Aria, 3, and her son, Hudson, 9 months, to the studio. "This is an amazing cause and something I hope my kids don't even understand because, by the time they are old enough, it is cured."

"Team Scelba" supporters can purchase "Real Men Wear Pink" T-shirts and onsies created for the campaign or make direct donations to the organization throughout September and October.

To purchase items from "Team Scelba," visit www.booster.com/real-men-wear-pink

To donate directly to Scelba's page, visit http://main.acsevents.org/goto/davescelba

Promotional updates on the fundraising efforts can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/3e_pr, on Instagram at www.instagram.com/3epublicrelations/ or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/3EPublicRelations/

Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-917-9242; wwesthoven@GannettNJ.com.

Dave Scelba, CEO of 3E Public Relations, center, prepares for a video shoot at SGW Integrated Marketing Communications in Montville with nearly a dozen toddlers to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign on September 6, 2016.
Dave Scelba, CEO of 3E Public Relations, center, prepares for a video shoot at SGW Integrated Marketing Communications in Montville with nearly a dozen toddlers to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign on September 6, 2016.
From left, James Redzia, 10-months, from Oakland, Stefanie Vasquez of Fair Lawn, Callie Groeger, 10-months, of Cedar Grove, and Maryann Roberts of Pompton Plains, watching her grandson, Hudson Vitetta, 9-months, of Pompton Plains, together before a video shoot by 3E Public Relations at SGW Integrated Marketing Communications in Montville with nearly a dozen toddlers to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society through the Real Men Wear Pink campaign on September 6, 2016.