Industry leaders, teams power City of Hope’s Walk for Hope in cities across the country

LOS ANGELES — The furniture industry is full of impassioned individuals who time after time, come together to power Walk for Hope, and anticipation is palpable as the fundraising event for City of Hope returns to in-person for the first time since 2019. The annual, nationwide event supports City of Hope cancer research and life-giving care.

With its roots at the City of Hope Duarte campus, Walk for Hope comes back in an even bigger way across the country with events taking place this fall in Chicago, Atlanta, Phoenix, and an additional site in Orange County, California. Participating in the virtual walk is also available.

For this year’s event, the furniture industry is mobilizing its forces, led by esteemed industry figures such as Martin Ploy, a founding member of the International Home Furnishings Industry group, and Rick Powell and Ryan Mahoney, who co-chaired Walk for Hope in 2021. The ICFA (International Casual Furniture Association) Sunshine team is also instrumental in the industry’s support of Walk for Hope.

Ploy, retired president of AICO, has been involve with Walk for Hope since 2010. He and his wife, Mary Ann, are believers in the life saving research and results of City of Hope. As former patients, and now proud advocates, they feel fortunate to be able to volunteer their time, efforts, and money to this very special cancer research facility and hospital.

With Ploy as its captain, the formidable AICO All-Stars team champions Walk for Hope, recognizing the transformative and national impact of City of Hope. Each year AICO rallies employees, executives, families, and friends to participate, cementing their status as an exemplary team with unwavering commitment to City of Hope’s groundbreaking research and treatment efforts. In 2022, the AICO All-Stars raised over $43,000 in support of Walk for Hope.

“Our team has always been a top fundraiser and we’re hoping to add another $65,000 or more this year to our impressive 14-year total of $370,000 raised to help continue the fight against cancer. The AICO All-Stars are made up of employees, their families and friends, as well as other furniture industry friends. With one of the largest teams, we look forward to walking united together with 12,000 other proud participants of Walk for Hope on September 8th,” said Ploy.

Walk for Hope is a 5K fundraising event, and 100% of net proceeds helps fund three important aspects of the fight to end cancer around the world by:

• Shortening the time from innovative ideas to powerful, new treatments for all kinds of cancers, toward the goal of finding a cure one day.
• Ensuring individualized cancer care by providing support groups, integrative therapies, educational classes and workshops, and more personalized care overall.
• Advocating for health equity by increasing access to quality care and treatments so that everyone has a fighting and surviving chance against cancer.

City of Hope is a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and a leader in bone marrow transplantation and immunotherapy, such as CAR T cell therapy.

To learn more about the partnership between the furniture industry and City of Hope, and to support the 2024 fundraising events, visit CityofHope.org/IHFI. For more information, contact Loren Boyko at 626-222-9764 or send an email to furniture@coh.org.