UAMS Wins First Place $10,000 for Cancer Charity in Medline’s National Pink Glove Dance Video Competition
| LITTLE ROCK – Thanks to the support of nearly 21,000 online votes, the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) today was named first-place winner in the national Medline Pink Glove Dance video competition.
The $10,000 prize was presented to UAMS Medical Center CEO Roxane Townsend, M.D., and 20th Century Club president Sandy Byrd by Medline representative Dave Woody at a news conference held at the UAMS Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute.
As part of the contest, the prize is donated to a cancer charity chosen by UAMS — the 20th Century Club’s Lodge. Located near UAMS, the lodge provides free housing to cancer patients who have to leave their hometown for treatment.
“This video brought together patients and employees from across our campus to celebrate breast cancer survivors and bring awareness to those still in the fight,” said Townsend. “We are thrilled about the overwhelming support our video received across Arkansas and honored to donate the prize money to such a worthy organization as the 20th Century Club’s Lodge.”
UAMS partnered with Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services (MEMS) to produce the breast cancer awareness video that featured more than 200 employees and patients wearing pink surgical gloves and dancing to Pharrell Williams’ “Happy.” View the winning video here.
With 20,760 online votes, the video received first place in the non-health care organization category, which included universities.
The 90-second winning video featured a comic book-style theme with faculty, staff and patients acting as superheroes in the fight against breast cancer. Online voting took place during two weeks in September, with almost 500,000 total votes cast for all entries.
“The 20th Century Club is extremely grateful for and humbled by this generous donation. We consider ourselves to be a partner with UAMS in providing necessary services to cancer patients. This contribution will help us continue to provide no-cost lodging and meals to financially needy patients,” Byrd said.
UAMS also raised more than $2,000 for the Arkansas Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure as part of its participation in the contest.
Now in its fourth year, the competition received video submissions from hospitals, nursing homes, schools and other organizations in more than 30 states and Canada. Entries are divided into three categories, with each category’s total vote-getter earning a $10,000 prize for their charity of choice. The overall vote-getter received an additional $5,000 for their charity of choice.
Sponsored by Medline — the manufacturer of medical supplies and services including pink exam gloves and creator of the YouTube sensation Pink Glove Dance — the national competition has had nearly 200,000 people dance in videos worldwide.
“Clinicians on the frontlines of care use the pink gloves to help make difficult conversations about breast cancer easier,” said Sue MacInnes, Medline’s chief market solutions officer and co-founder of the Pink Glove Dance. “Now health care workers are wearing them not just in October but year-round because the message of early detection is a 12-month campaign.”
Medline donates a portion of each sale of its pink exam gloves to the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help save lives through early detection and to provide mammograms and support services for those in need.
UAMS is the state’s only health sciences university, with colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions and Public Health; a graduate school; a hospital; a main campus in Little Rock; a Northwest Arkansas regional campus in Fayetteville; a statewide network of regional campuses; and eight institutes: the Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute, Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute, Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute, Psychiatric Research Institute, Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, Translational Research Institute, Institute for Digital Health & Innovation and the Institute for Community Health Innovation. UAMS includes UAMS Health, a statewide health system that encompasses all of UAMS’ clinical enterprise. UAMS is the only adult Level 1 trauma center in the state. UAMS has 3,275 students, 890 medical residents and fellows, and five dental residents. It is the state’s largest public employer with more than 12,000 employees, including 1,200 physicians who provide care to patients at UAMS, its regional campuses, Arkansas Children’s, the VA Medical Center and Baptist Health. Visit www.uams.edu or uamshealth.com. Find us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), YouTube or Instagram.###