Mattress Firm selects charitable partner of choice, launches initial fundraising promotion

April 5, 2011 — Mattress Firm, a leading national bedding retailer, has named the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as its "charitable partner of choice."

Specifically, Mattress Firm will support globalCure, a TGen-led alliance of the world's foremost scientists, physicians and pancreatic cancer advocates in the fight against pancreatic cancer.

Steve Stagner, Mattress Firm's President and CEO, believes the company's support of research at the Phoenix-based TGen will provide employees the opportunity to change lives and raise awareness of pancreatic cancer with every customer interaction.

To launch its national alignment with TGen's globalCure, Mattress Firm is partnering with Simmons Bedding Co., makers of Beautyrest mattresses, in a promotion that will donate $50 to globalCure for every Simmons Beautyrest dual floor sample sold nationwide at nearly 700 Mattress Firm stores from April 6 through April 17. The goal is to raise more than $100,000 for globalCure.

"Not only will we participate in local and national events to raise funds that support the research at TGen, but we will also use opportunities to educate our customers and communities about pancreatic cancer and the globalCure effort. Awareness is the key to progress, and we have the opportunity to make a significant impact in our lifetime," Stagner said.

GlobalCure national advisory committee member Jai Pausch praised Stagner and the Houston-based mattress retailer. Pausch became a national advocate for pancreatic cancer following the death of her husband, Randy, a Carnegie Mellon professor and author of the bestselling book, The Last Lecture.

"As an advocate who understands how devastating pancreatic cancer can be for patients and their families, I applaud Mattress Firm's commitment to globalCure, and their effort to bring much needed resources and attention to our fight," Pausch said.

Stagner said he hopes that Mattress Firm's support will multiply through globalCure and do for pancreatic cancer research and scientific discovery what the Susan G. Komen foundation has done for the fight against breast cancer.

"We have the opportunity to educate our customers about our efforts beyond the sales floor. We have the opportunity to get involved and engaged with our communities, and impact the lives of over 43,000 Americans that are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year," Stagner said.

Pancreatic cancer is the nation's fourth leading cause of cancer death, and is the only one of the 10 most deadly cancers with a survival rate in the single digits. Nearly 75 percent of the estimated 43,000 Americans diagnosed annually die within the first year. Only 6 percent survive longer than five years. Less than 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute's federal research funding is dedicated to pancreatic cancer research.

According to Dr. Daniel D. Von Hoff, TGen's Physician-In-Chief and one of the world's leading authorities on pancreatic cancer, early detection of pancreatic cancer is non-existent, the survival rate remains low, and federal funding is a trickle for a river of need.

"Discoveries directly follow funding, and pancreatic cancer receives little in comparison to the percentage of lives it takes," said Dr. Von Hoff, who leads the team of 46 physicians from around the world who form the backbone of globalCure. "Having the commitment of Mattress Firm will elevate globalCure's efforts, and the monies raised will allow us to aggressively pursue the underlying genetic causes of the disease and drive an unprecedented number of new therapeutic approaches to patient care."

Donations to globalCure enable the international team of physicians to move quickly on promising new clinical therapies. Specifically, the funds enable globalCure scientists and clinicians to: identify diagnostic biomarkers as drug targets; identify and improve new agents that affect the activity of those targets; and evaluate new agents and take the most promising ones to clinical trials for patients in advanced stages of pancreatic cancer.

Provided by The Translational Genomics Research Institute