Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital staff members made the most of the color pink Tuesday when they gathered that afternoon for a flash mob that will be used as the finale of a dance video to promote breast cancer awareness.
The crowd of dancers was made up of staff members from many departments in the hospital, including physicians, nurses, housekeeping staff, administrators, volunteers, hospital board members and more.
Many of the departments put a personal twist on their outfits so that they would be easily recognizable in the group scene. The labor and delivery crew sported bright pink wigs while those who work in the business office wore pink ties. Even some of the construction crew members who are working on the Women’s Center came out to support the project, wearing pink hard hats for the dance.
“There is a lot of enthusiasm for a cause that is very near and dear” to a lot of the employees, said Frankie Gallagher, the director of public relations at the hospital. “Almost everyone has someone they know who has been diagnosed.”
According to the American Cancer Society, 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives.
Danette Perrien, the director of surgical services, organized the video project at the local hospital. Hazel Hawkins is one of many hospitals that will produce a video as part of the Pink Glove Dance 2012 Competition. The contest is sponsored by Medline, the maker of pink surgical gloves that help to promote breast cancer awareness. Videos will be up on Facebook starting on Oct. 12, when visitors can vote for their favorite from the clips.
The first place winner will receive $10,000 to donate to the breast cancer charity of their choice, with $5,000 going to second place and $2,000 going to third place.
The idea for the dance came about when workers at a hospital in Portland, Ore., put together a video and posted it on YouTube. The video has more than 13.5 million views and inspired pink glove dance videos around the nation.
“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,” Perrien said, in a statement. “Our employees were so excited and inspired to be part of our own Pink Glove Dance. It is 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 cause is close to so many
In the back parking lot of Hazel Hawkins, more than 150 of the workers gathered for the finale video shoot. Deejay Gus Lopez played the Jay Sean song “Down” repeatedly as the volunteer videographers got footage of the entire group and then zoomed in for some close ups.
Lopez said someone from the hospital asked him to bring out his equipment and play the song. He agreed because the cause is close to him, as an aunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and survived.
Gallagher said the staff members who gathered to shoot the video were off the clock and each department that coordinated a prop purchased the items with their own money, not with hospital funds.
The workers gathered at 4 p.m. to work on the video for about an hour and then planned to return at 7 p.m. for a balloon release featuring Calstar employees. Hollister Fire Department and American Medical Response staff members also participated in the video.
Some of the hospital departments choreographed their own segment of the video, which will be edited together with the finale. Gallagher said staff members plan to show the video at the San Benito County Fair at the end of the month and tell people how they can vote in October.
If the local video is the winner, they have selected the local charity the Giving Ribbon to benefit from the donation. The Giving Ribbon, created by two-time breast cancer survivor Jamie Inman, offers support to those diagnosed with breast cancer. Gallagher said she is in talks with Inman to start a breast cancer support group at the hospital.
Medline, the company that manufactures the pink surgical gloves, donates a portion of the sales of the gloves to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. The company has donated $1 million to fund mammograms to patients who can’t afford them.
