Seena Magowitz Golf Classic set for Dec. 5

Event raises funds to fight pancreatic cancer

David Perry -- Furniture Today, 11/25/2008 7:41:36 AM

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Mattress retailer Roger Magowitz is poised to surpass the $1 million mark this year in his ongoing crusade to raise money for pancreatic cancer research.

The sixth annual Seena Magowitz Golf Classic gets under way here Dec. 5 at the Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, a new venue for the event. A symposium is held that day, followed by the golf tournament the next day. That is followed by a gala awards luncheon.

Magowitz, president of Virginia Beach, Va.-based Mattress Discounters, has raised more than $900,000 since the first event was held in Arizona. What started as a small gathering has mushroomed into a who's who lineup of home furnishings executives, including many of the mattress industry's top leaders.

And the star power of the event continues to grow. Celebrities expected to attend this year include Brandon Webb, an All-Star pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks; Stefanie Schaeffer, winner of "The Apprentice;" and actors Gregory Itzin of "24," Rex Linn of "CSI: Miami," and Christopher Rich of "Reba," among several others.

Magowitz, who co-founded the event to honor his mother, Seena, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2001, expects another strong industry turnout this year.

"Despite this perfect storm of an economic disaster, leaders from our industry are coming to this oasis in the desert to be part of something that is productive and to remember and honor those lost to this and other forms of cancer," he said.

Magowitz and former mattress retailer Ray Bojanowski launched the first event and continue to work together on the various activities that make up the fund-raising weekend. Proceeds help fund pancreatic cancer research through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Phoenix.

At this year's event, Magowitz and Bojanowski will present plaques and copies of "The Last Lecture" to corporate sponsors. That book was written by Randy Pausch, who described his determination to get as much out of life as possible, despite a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Pausch, who wrote a letter of support for the Seena Magowitz Golf Classic, died earlier this year. Magowitz had hoped Pausch would attend this year's event.

After the golf tournament, Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, one of the world's leading pancreatic cancer experts, will discuss progress being made against the disease. "Discoveries directly follow funding," he said, "and pancreatic cancer receives little in comparison to the percentage of lives it takes."

Pancreatic cancer has a mortality rate of 95%, making it the most lethal form of cancer. Despite that fact, it receives a small percentage of federal funding devoted to cancer research, Magowitz said.