CITY Furniture Commits $500,000 to Boost Breast Cancer Awareness

TAMARAC, Fla. — As the COVID-19 pandemic causes many Florida women to delay life-saving breast cancer screenings, CITY Furniture launches its Pink Pumpkins fundraiser today, committing to donate $500,000 and partnering with the American Cancer Society (ACS) throughout Florida as part of ACS’ 2021 Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign.

The statewide furniture retailer is rallying dozens of companies, plus pro sports teams and communities to spotlight the need for early breast cancer detection. Leading efforts to “Turn the City Pink” in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, CITY Furniture is lighting high-traffic showrooms in pink, and has partnered with landmarks including FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Exploria Stadium in Orlando, and the guitar-shaped Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, to do the same. Pink Pumpkins also features hand-carved pumpkin masterpieces on display at several showrooms through Oct. 31, and a host of awareness and fundraising activities.

In Florida, it is estimated there will be 20,160 new cases and 3,120 deaths from breast cancer in 2021.The pandemic has dramatically impacted mammography screenings, with an estimated 87 percent drop nationally from late February to early April 2020. From March to early June 2020, there were estimated missed or delayed diagnoses nationwide of about 36,000 women.

“We’re at a unique moment in history in the fight against cancer. What we do right now to combat the staggering declines in breast cancer screening rates will reverberate for decades to come,” said Brant Woodward, ACS Southeast Region Executive Vice President. “To successfully meet, and even exceed, pre-pandemic screening rates will take a coordinated, multi-sector approach. We are so grateful to partners, like CITY Furniture, for collaborating on an initiative that’s big enough and bold enough to return people to screening.”

“The pandemic has made it tough for Florida’s families to keep up with routine health screenings, but cancer doesn’t wait,” CITY Furniture President Andrew Koenig said. “That’s why we’re joining with dozens of terrific partners to ensure Making Strides’ crucial message is hard to miss and easy to support this fall.”

Koenig’s mother, Doreen, lost her battle with breast cancer in 2015. It was her idea to have CITY Furniture hand out plastic pink pumpkin buckets at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walks. Koenig and his father, company CEO and co-founder Keith Koenig, have grown the scope of CITY Furniture’s support for the ACS fundraiser each year since, and now are taking the effort to an ambitious new statewide level.

Be part of the Pink Pumpkins campaign in any of these ways:

• See hand-carved pumpkin masterworks at CITY Furniture’s Doral, Tamarac, Boca Raton, Millenia (Orlando) and Fort Myers showrooms through Oct. 31, created by Maniac Pumpkin Carvers studio, whose work has been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
• Help light up your city. Show your support with a free string of decorative pink lights available at the same five showrooms, while supplies last. CITY is inviting customers and partners to join us, by making a $1 donation for every post that tags @cityfurniture and #TurnTheCITYPink, up to $10,000. See the many landmark buildings and CITY Furniture showrooms lit in pink throughout October at #TurntheCITYPink.
• Test a mattress at any CITY Furniture showroom and get a $25 Starbucks or MasterCard gift card, while the retailer donates $25 to ACS for each test rest, through December. Pick up free plastic jack o’lantern candy buckets and make donations this month.
• Honor your loved one – Share a story and make a donation by tagging #PinkPumpkins. Round up your CITY Furniture purchase to include a donation in showrooms or online. Scan the QR code on in-showroom signage and on Pink Pumpkins TV spots.

About CITY Furniture

The annual Pink Pumpkins campaign is part of CITY Furniture’s 5% Giving Pledge, through which the company donates a minimum of 5% of net annual profits to charities. A national Top 100 furniture retailer, CITY Furniture operates 20 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach, and in Southwest and Central Florida, as well as 14 Ashley HomeStore showrooms as the brand’s Southeast and Southwest licensee. For information: www.cityfurniture.com and www.cityfurniture.com/city-cares.

About American Cancer Society

The American Cancer Society is a global grassroots force of 1.5 million volunteers dedicated to saving lives, celebrating lives and leading the fight for a world without cancer. From breakthrough research, to free lodging near treatment, a 24/7/365 live helpline, free rides to treatment and convening powerful activists to create awareness and impact, the Society is the only organization attacking cancer from every angle. For information: www.cancer.org.

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