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Susan Martino speaks at the Woodstock, Illinois, BFBC event alongside daughters Tracy and Laura (next to a Brighton Collectibles gift bag).

Sue started her bunco fundraiser with Pam MacCallum after her sister and a friend of Pam's were both diagnosed with breast cancer.

Sue and Pam recruit men friends to be helpful "bunco boys." Sometimes local businesses sponsor the amusing messages on their backs.

All breast cancer survivors, Susan and her daughters have raised the most money for BCRF through bunco events -- $325,000 in seven years.

Jeanne Fitzner at her Westmont, Illinois, BFBC event with her daughter Christine. In 11 years, she has grown her fundraiser from 40 to 300 people.

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In its first year, the Woodstock group raises $15,000, with 300 people attending. The cause turns even more personal in 2008 when Susan also develops the disease. She and her daughters have since been part of three major studies to find the BRCA3 gene for breast cancer. Her grandson jokes that if researchers succeed, “it should be called the Martino1.” Fittingly, BCRF funds one of the studies, at the University of Washington.

In total, Woodstock’s seven events raise more than $325,000 – more than any other bunco group. Their last event, in 2011, attracts an overflow crowd of 650 players. About 400 donors participate, including a local Crystal Lake, Illinois, retailer who donates Brighton Power of Pink bracelets. Susan ties them onto raffle baskets with velvet ribbons.

Brighton offers its Power of Pink bracelet for Breast Cancer Awareness Month and donates a portion of those sales to support research and awareness. Now in its 10th year, the Power of Pink campaign has raised more than $4.5 million, with most of those funds also going to BCRF.

After local Illinois media cover the bunco fundraising efforts, articles appear in Time, Good Housekeeping and other national publications. Moira Grimes is flying on a business trip, reading the Delta Sky inflight magazine, when she comes across one of these stories. Moira is not a breast cancer survivor and has never undertaken such a production, but she has been playing bunco for a few years and knows it’s very popular in her Syracuse, New York, community. Reading about Mary and Susan inspires her to start Central New York BFBC in 2008. Her event now attracts about 600 players. “It gives me chills to see the sea of people,” she says. “I don’t even have a DJ anymore, because the sound of people playing is so overpowering.”

Rolling For Pink board members (left to right): Wendy Reed, Sue Stonehouse, Chris Rabushka, Jennifer Chastain and Pam MacCallum

Meanwhile, the Oxygen cable network also notices the bunco phenomenon and partners with Prilosec OTC in 2006 to start the Bunco World Championship in Las Vegas. Pam MacCallum sees a coupon for it in her local Santa Rosa Valley, California, paper. She and her friend Sue Stonehouse play bunco avidly, so they decide to break away from their busy lives to participate. Almost immediately, they lose all their rounds. Amazingly, though, Sue wins a drawing to be a wildcard player in the finals. And even more incredibly, she wins the $50,000 tournament and is crowned Bunco World Champion.

When Sue’s sister and a friend of Pam’s are both diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007, they decide to pattern a bunco fundraiser after the Vegas event, complete with a tiara for the winner. They form Rolling For Pink and initially attract 320 players. In four years, they raise more than $100,000. Besides food, drinks, raffles and silent auctions, their event features amusing “bunco boys” – all their men friends, dressed in pink T-shirts, who cater to the players. They serve drinks, referee games, give massages and do whatever else people desire, as long as it’s legal. Everyone has a rollicking good time as well as a deeply emotional experience.

As BFBC evolves, it takes on different forms. Susan and the Woodstock group launch “remote” bunco this year. Instead of holding one massive event, they send bunco kits for people to hold their own, smaller gatherings. Moira started Party 4 Pink last year, a girl’s night out sleepover event. Sue, who fundraises half the year for her kids’ schools, is always thinking about the next fun concept.

Remarkably, all these women already have overflowing lives. They’re raising kids, taking care of their extended families, holding full-time, demanding jobs, and/or supporting their schools and communities. Yet these busy high-achievers find time to raise money for breast cancer research through events that can take six months to plan. Their dedication exemplifies the depth and power of women friendships. Plus, girls just want to have fun.