The Pink Glove Dance is spreading…to Frankfort Regional Medical Center. More than 130 staff members, volunteers, children and EMS workers at Frankfort Regional Medical Center are starring in their own Pink Glove Dance video to help spread the word about breast cancer awareness and prevention. The video was submitted to a national competition to determine the best Pink Glove Dance video of 2012. The second annual competition is sponsored by Medline Industries, Inc., manufacturer of the gloves and producer of the original Pink Glove Dance video.
As part of the Pink Glove Dance 2012 competition, Frankfort Regional Medical Center’s video is posted on www.pinkglovedance.com along with the videos of the other participants to be viewed by the public. Viewers can vote on their favorite video (voting requires a Facebook® account) from October 12 – November 2. The top three winners receive a donation in their name to the breast cancer charity of their choice. Frankfort Regional Medical Center’s charity is the Kentucky Pink Connection, an organization who provides support for breast cancer patients by reducing and/or eliminating barriers to screening, diagnosis and treatment. The winners will be announced November 2 on pinkglovedance.com.
“Once we saw the original video and all the ones from last year’s competition, we immediately wanted to get involved to help make a difference at our facility, in our community and even around the country,” said Linda Rittermeyer, Chief Nursing Officer. “Our staff was so excited and inspired to be part of our own Pink Glove Dance. It was not only a lot of fun to participate, but the awareness and discussion about breast cancer we’re going to create from the video is the real satisfaction we’re hoping to take away from this experience.”
The song used in Frankfort Regional Medical Center’s video was “Part of Me” by Katy Perry. An interesting side note is that the artist gave permission to use this song specifically for the Pink Glove Dance competition.
The history of the Pink Glove Dance
The original Pink Glove Dance video premiered in November 2009 and featured 200 Portland, Ore. hospital workers wearing Medline’s pink gloves and dancing in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Today, the video has more than 13.5 million views on YouTube® and has inspired hundreds of pink glove dance videos and breast cancer awareness events across the country.
Medline filmed the original Pink Glove Dance video at Providence St. Vincent Medical Center in Portland, Ore., which generated thousands of responses, including letters and e-mails from survivors, family and friends. It has entertained and inspired laughter, as well as evoked memories of many people’s own experiences with breast cancer.
“As a way to extend our breast cancer awareness campaign, we developed a pink glove called Generation Pink™,” said Andy Mills, president of Medline. “Gloves are also the first point of contact between the healthcare worker and the patient. And, because the glove is pink, we hoped it would get people talking about breast cancer.”
Medline is donating a portion of each sale of the pink gloves to the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). To date, Medline has donated more than $1 million to the NBCF to fund mammograms for individuals who cannot afford them.
Why a Pink Glove Dance Video Contest?
As a result of the original Pink Glove Dance video, Medline received hundreds of calls from health care facilities, breast cancer survivor groups, schools and other organizations throughout the U.S. and the world inquiring about participating in another video.
A sequel to the original video was produced in October 2010 featuring 4,000 health care workers and breast cancer survivors throughout North America. Then in 2011, a competition was held in which 139 teams and more than 21,000 participants from hospitals, nursing homes, schools, fire departments and other groups submitted videos of their own versions of the Pink Glove Dance. Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, S.C. was the winner of the inaugural competition receiving $10,000 to the hospital’s breast cancer charity of choice, the Vera Bradley Foundation for Breast Cancer.
“The response we received from the videos was overwhelming and heartwarming,” said Sue MacInnes, Medline’s chief marketing officer. “We were flooded with calls, e-mails and letters about the joy the videos have brought, and people were asking if they could participate in another video. We didn’t want to leave anyone out who wanted to be in a Pink Glove Dance video, so we thought a competition could include everyone who wanted to participate. All these videos are helping help bring attention to breast cancer awareness and prevention and making the Pink Glove Dance a 'movement' in every sense of the word."
About Medline
As the nation's largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies, Medline is focused on helping to improve the quality of care for patients and residents. Breast cancer awareness is a natural extension of Medline’s corporate mission to help save lives through the early detection of breast cancer. (Visit www.medline.com/breast-cancer-awareness for details). Based in Mundelein, Ill., Medline manufactures and distributes more than 125,000 products to hospitals, extended care facilities, surgery centers, physician offices, home care dealers and agencies and other markets.