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Mattress Firm Donates 1 Million Dollars to Help Cure Pancreatic Cancer.

Furniture World News Desk on 5/15/2015




Mattress Firm announced that it recently presented  $25,000 to Give Kids The World at the Give Kids The World Village in Kissimmee, FL. Mattress also gave 1 million dollar donation to TGen at a dinner for the annual Seena Mackowitz Golf Tournament.

“Mattress Firm is deeply committed to service and fostering lasting ties with the communities in which we live and work," said  Mattress Firm's CEO Steve Stagner.  We are proud to give back to these two unique causes, and our local and national support for both Give Kids the World and TGen extends far beyond the monetary donations we are presenting this week. Both organizations claim a special place in our hearts, and we will continue to support them in their missions to bring joy and hope to those battling devastating illnesses for many years to come.”

Mattress Firm’s local support for Give Kids The World began at their national conference in February 2013. Mattress Firm team members from across the country spent a day volunteering at the Give Kids the World village. Moved by the experience, District Manager Joe Traynham galvanized teams from Tampa and Orlando stores to continue to support the village through volunteer efforts. Eventually, they adopted two villas and have devoted approximately 1,000 hours a year in the past two years that they have served the organization. Volunteer efforts include landscaping and manual maintenance of the property which provides children with fatal illness and their families a magical retreat from the hardships of their diseases.

The donation this week was raised through sales of teddy bears at Mattress Firm stores in Tampa and Orlando. From April 2014 to February 2015, the stores sold the bears with proceeds going towards an unrestricted fund for the operating costs of the GKTW village. By February 2015, they had sold 2,020 bears and raised over 25k. Local Mattress Firm employees and MF executives including CEO Steve Stagner attended  the check presentation ceremony on Wednesday, May 13th.

The 1 million dollar donation to TGen at the Seena Mackowitz Golf Tournament is part of Mattress Firm’s on-going commitment to help find a cure to pancreatic cancer. The Mattress Firm Foundation supports TGen in its clinical research and trials to find a cure. More on the Seena Magowitz Foundation can be found by clicking here.

About Mattress Firm: With more than 1,700 company-operated and franchised stores across 36 states, Mattress Firm (NASDAQ:MFRM) has the largest geographic footprint in the United States among multi-brand mattress retailers. Founded in 1986, Houston-based Mattress Firm is the nation’s leading bedding retailer with more than $1.2 billion in sales for 2013. The company offers a broad selection of both traditional and specialty mattresses, bedding accessories and other related products from leading manufacturers, including Sealy, Tempur-Pedic, Serta, Simmons, Stearns & Foster, Hampton & Rhodes and Atmos. Mattress Firm guarantees price, comfort and service with the ultimate goal of ensuring customers Save Money. Sleep Happy™.

Mattress Firm was named Furniture Today’s “Top Bedding Retailer” in 2013 and a “Top Workplace” by the Houston Chronicle in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

More information is available at mattressfirm.com, or on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
Mattress Firm Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:MFRM) features five of the nation’s top bedding brands including Mattress Firm, Sleep Experts, Sleep Train, Mattress Pro and Olejo.

The Mattress Firm Foundation: Dream It’s Possible.
The Mattress Firm Foundation’s purpose is to create a world free of cancer by supporting clinical trials and raising awareness of pancreatic cancer. Together, we dream it’s possible to make this a reality.
In Phoenix, Arizona, researchers, physicians and scientists are working diligently at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) to identify the next piece in the pancreatic cancer puzzle. Prior to 1996, the one year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients was four percent. In that same year, a breast cancer drug was approved for treatment of pancreatic cancer and the one year survival rate increased to 18 percent. Since 1996, the one year survival rate of 18 percent has remained stagnant, until now. TGen’s Dr. Von Hoff and his team of 65 cancer experts are leading a three-year clinical trial with the goal of increasing the one year survival rate to 80 percent. The trial is underway and the results show a one year survival rate of over 40 percent. Dr. Von Hoff believes that with increased financial support allowing him to conduct an additional 10 trials a year, a cure can be found in the next five to ten years.More on the Mattress Firm Foundation can be found by clicking here.

About TGen: The mission of TGen’s Clinical Translational Research Division is to extend quality life and ultimately prevent and cure cancer. To achieve this, it brings medical science researchers, acclaimed laboratories and physicians together to make discoveries and apply them to patients. Daniel D. Von Hoff, M.D., F.A.C.P., is the Physician-in-Chief and Director of Translational Research at TGen (Translational Genomics Research Institute) in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dr. Von Hoff is also Chief Scientific Officer for US Oncology and for Scottsdale Healthcare’s Clinical Research Institute and a Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Arizona. He is one of the world’s leading pioneers in this bench-to- bedside approach to medicine. TGen investigators are partners in inter-institutional, cross-functional research efforts to:
  • Identify and validate biomarkers of diagnostic value, as well as those that constitute new drug targets in pancreatic cancer.
  • Identify and optimize new agents that affect the activity of the targets.
  • Perform in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the agents, and take the most promising ones to clinical trials of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
About Give Kids The World: Give Kids The World Village is a 70-acre, non-profit resort in Central Florida that creates magical memories for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families. GKTW provides accommodations at its whimsical resort, donated attractions tickets, meals and more for a weeklong, cost-free fantasy vacation. With the help of many generous individuals, corporations and partnering wish-granting organizations, Give Kids The World has welcomed more than 135,000 families from all 50 states and 75 countries. For more information about GKTW and its mission, visit givekidstheworld.org.