Mundelein’s Medline expands awards in dance competition
Mundelein-based Medline Industries has announced new prizes and awards for its third annual national Pink Glove Dance video competition.
Medline will make a $25,000 donation to the breast cancer charity of the overall winner’s choice; second place will receive $10,000 and third place $5,000.
Since the third annual competition was launched July 1, more than 160 teams with 50,000 dancers from across the country, including hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other community organizations, have already signed up to help raise awareness for early detection of breast cancer.
“Each year, we’re amazed and thrilled at the growth and interest in The Pink Glove Dance competition,” said Andy Mills, president of Medline. “More people are finding out that the competition is a unique and inspiring way to rally around early detection, one step at a time.”
New to the competition is an Artist’s Choice category. Music groups 98 degrees and Green River Ordinance, each of whom has a song as part of the competition, will choose a video for special recognition. In addition, the top three video entries from academic institutions will again be eligible for a gift card and charity donation through School Health Corporation (SHC), the leading provider of medical supplies and equipment to school nurses, athletic trainers and other specialty health care professionals. Gift card prizes and charity donations each range from $250 to $500.
It is the third year of the competition, which includes organizations in the United States, Canada and now Panama, which is new to this year’s contest. Hospitals, schools, nursing homes, businesses and organizations interested in participating can find competition rules and registration at www.pinkglovedance.com. The deadline to receive video submissions is Oct. 4, 2013. All videos will then be posted online starting Oct. 25 with winners announced Nov. 15.
The original Medline Pink Glove Dance video premiered in the United States in November 2009 featuring 200 hospital workers wearing Medline’s pink gloves and dancing in support of breast cancer awareness and prevention. Today, the original video has almost 14 million views on YouTubeˆ and has been the inspiration for hundreds of pink glove dance videos and breast cancer awareness events worldwide.
For the past two years, Medline has held a national competition to find the best video in North America. Last year, the competition attracted 275 entries and more than 80,000 people in 42 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Separate competitions were also in New Zealand and Australia.
Medline is donating a portion of each sale of the pink gloves to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help fund mammograms for individuals who cannot afford them.