Home furnishings group raises over $2 million to fight pediatric cancer

City of Hope’s International Home Furnishings Industry celebrated six decades of support for cures, innovation and survivorship at its annual fundraising gala.
IHFI dinner committee
Members of the 2024 dinner committee: L-R: David Koehler (AICO), Larry Furiani (Coaster Company), Christina Morrison (KUKA HOME), Lorri Kelley (Lorri Kelley Advisors), Ryan Mahoney (ANDMORE), Steve Riley (Steve Riley Consulting), Robin Hoff (Theodore Alexander), Kevin O'Connor (Samson Marketing) and Loren Boyko (City of Hope)

Leaders from the International Home Furnishings Industry (IHFI) have raised more than $2 million this year for City of Hope®, one of the

 largest cancer research and treatment organizations in the U.S. and a pioneer in research for diabetes and other life-threatening illnesses. 

More than 850 professionals gathered at the IHFI group’s Spirit of Life® gala on April 14 in Greensboro, North Carolina. This year’s IHFI Spirit of Life honorees are Jerry Dittmer and Tim Newlin of Flexsteel Industries and Matt Harrison of KUKA Home North America.  

Harrison, President of KUKA Home North America, said before the gala, “We are all competitors in the furniture industry, and I’ll do everything I can to beat the next guy. But coming together with one common goal to help City of Hope is an amazing effort. It’s about saving lives.” 

IHFI’s contribution will support pediatric cancer research and care at City of Hope. Saro Armenian, D.O., M.P.H., Barron Hilton Chair in Pediatrics at City of Hope Children’s Cancer Center, described to the gala audience how City of Hope is transforming cancer care for children and young adults. 

“Philanthropy has a profound impact on patients around the globe,” Armenian said. “It’s not just City of Hope patients who benefit from new treatments and cures — it’s all people who face cancer and diabetes.” 

IHFI patient speaker Caitlin Herron standing on stage behind a podium
Patient speaker Caitlin Herron

Attendees also heard from Caitlin Herron. At age 12, she was one of only a handful of children in the world to be diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of leukemia. No child had ever survived the cancer. Herron sought treatment from City of Hope. 

“I was determined to not let this cancer win. I remember thinking to myself: How unacceptable it was that no other child had survived this cancer. I didn’t want the next child diagnosed to feel the same way I did,” said Herron, now 20 and cancer-free for seven years. “I wanted them to know that I survived, and there is hope.” 

The IHFI group formed in 1965 — one of City of Hope’s first organized groups of industry-based donors and volunteers. IHFI has raised more than $100 million for innovative research and exceptional patient care. 

Kristin Bertell, chief philanthropy officer at City of Hope, said, “For six decades, the International Home Furnishings Industry has accelerated some of City of Hope’s most important innovations and breakthroughs in treating cancer and diabetes. Tonight, the group has supported our world-class pediatrics program — a program that not only saves lives, but provides personalized, lifelong care so that pediatric cancer survivors can thrive. We’re incredibly grateful for IHFI’s legacy of support.” 

Dittmer, President and CEO of Flexsteel, said, “Flexsteel has been around for 130 years. City of Hope has been around for 110 years. If I could step back in time, I wish we had done even more together.” 

The three honorees toured City of Hope’s campus in Duarte, California, earlier this year. Newlin, vice president of Strategic Development at Flexsteel, said after the tour, “This is a campus, not a hospital. That’s what really struck me: There’s a different vibe here. When someone has passion for their work, it shines right through. You see it. You can tell they want to win.”