Medline Kicks Off Second Annual National Pink Glove Dance Video Competition

Medline Industries, Inc., the creators of the YouTube® sensation Pink Glove Dance and makers of the pink gloves, announced today the kick-off of its second annual national Pink Glove Dance video competition in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Beginning today, organizations located in the U.S. and Canada hospitals, nursing homes, schools, fire departments, to name a few are all encouraged to get creative and produce their own Pink Glove Dance video to show their support for those affected by breast cancer. To register for the competition and for complete rules, go to www.pinkglovedance.com.

The deadline to receive submissions is Sept. 28, 2012. All videos will be posted on the Internet beginning Oct. 12 where the public can go online to vote for their favorite video. The winners will be announced Nov. 2, with the winning team receiving a $10,000 donation in their name to the breast cancer charity of their choice. Second place will receive $5,000 and third place $2,000.

The Pink Glove Dance has become more than a fun music video, it has inspired an international movement of passionate caregivers, healthcare workers, students, firefighters people from all walks of life to show their support in fun, creative ways for those afflicted with this terrible disease, says Andy Mills, president of Medline. You dont have to be a great dancer or entertainer to join the competition; just have passion for the cause and a desire to bring a little joy to those affected by breast cancer.       

Last year, 139 organizations from 40 states and Canada participated in Medlines inaugural Pink Glove Dance video competition. To view highlights from last years competition, click here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2A4fE5mmJOc. The competition quickly became a national social media phenomenon with the videos receiving more than 1.2 million views, a half a million votes and thousands of tweets, blogs and texts.  Lexington Medical Center in West Columbia, S.C., won first place with 61,054 votes more than four times the population of their entire city (14,061).  Click here to view their winning video http://pinkglovedance.com/competition/entry-39.

The original Pink Glove Dance video premiered in November 2009 and featured 200 Portland, Ore. hospital workers wearing pink gloves and dancing in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Click here to view the original video http://pinkglovedance.com/videos/original-pink-glove-dance. Today the video has more than 13.6 million views on YouTube® and has inspired hundreds of pink glove dance videos and breast cancer awareness events across the country.  Because of the overwhelming response to the original video, a sequel was produced in October 2010 featuring 4,000 healthcare workers and breast cancer survivors throughout North America.

Gloves are the first point of contact between the health care worker and the patient, says Mills. As a way to extend our breast cancer awareness campaign, we developed a pink glove called Generation Pink®, with the aim of getting people to talk 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.