Pink Pumpkins Campaign Focuses on Helping Reverse Staggering Decline in Breast Cancer Screenings During the Pandemic
MIAMI–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#PinkPumpkins–As the COVID-19 pandemic causes many women to delay breast cancer screenings, CITY Furniture is launching its annual Pink Pumpkins fundraiser with its largest-ever goal, looking to raise $500,000 as part of the American Cancer Society’s (ACS) Making Strides Against Breast Cancer campaign.
The national Top 100 furniture retailer is rallying dozens of companies, pro sports teams and communities, leading efforts to “Turn the City Pink.” CITY Furniture is lighting high-traffic showrooms in pink, and partnering with Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando landmarks to do the same. Pink Pumpkins features hand-carved pumpkin masterpieces on display at several showrooms, plus awareness and fundraising activities.
In Florida, it’s estimated there will be 20,160 new cases and 3,120 deaths from breast cancer in 2021. The pandemic seriously 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’re 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 screenings, but cancer doesn’t wait,” CITY Furniture President Andrew Koenig said. “That’s why we’re joining dozens of terrific partners to ensure Making Strides’ 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, are targeting the ambitious $500,000 fundraising goal to support ACS’ crucial breast cancer screening message.
The Pink Pumpkins initiative invites everyone to:
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, whose work has been showcased at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
Help light up your city, picking up free decorative pink lights at the same five showrooms, while supplies last. CITY will make a $1 donation for every post that tags @cityfurniture and #TurnTheCITYPink, up to $10,000. See landmark buildings and CITY Furniture showrooms lit pink 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 donate this month.
Honor your loved one – Share a story and donate by tagging #PinkPumpkins. Round up your CITY Furniture purchase to include a donation. Scan the QR code on in-showroom signage and on Pink Pumpkins TV spots.
About CITY Furniture
Pink Pumpkins is part of CITY Furniture’s 5% Giving Pledge, through which the company donates a minimum of 5% of net annual profits to charities. CITY Furniture operates 20 showrooms from Miami through Vero Beach and in Southwest and Central Florida, plus 14 Ashley HomeStore showrooms as the brand’s Southeast and Southwest Florida 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.
Contacts
Michelle Foley 813.349.4209 michelle.foley@cancer.org
Linda Lewis 954.428.4477 llewis@smith-knibbs.com
Download photos & video: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1FjfzIFkb3lLABmprOjXQyCzpcApgK8fA?usp=sharing
