Chief Operating Officer, City Furniture

Charitable involvements: Covenant House, American Cancer Society/Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, Habitat for Humanity, American Heart Association, Junior Achievement of South Florida, and more

Why it’s personal: “Watching my mom [Doreen] fight her battle with breast cancer for two years [she died in July 2015 at age 62] was the worst thing I’ve ever seen up close in my life. Our family and City Furniture will forever participate to help find a cure for this horrible disease. Our entire company participates in fundraising activities throughout October [which is breast cancer awareness month] … our drivers and sales associates wear pink shirts to [promote early detection]. Our Pink Truck drives all over South Florida in October [with stops at more than a dozen showrooms from Vero Beach to Naples to Miami] to raise breast cancer awareness.

“We’re already seeing great [scientific] advancements in this area. We’re confident the disease will be killed in my lifetime, so my daughter and sons don’t have to worry about the risk.”

Sources of pride: “City Furniture has been a supporter of Covenant House [which provides housing and supportive services for youth facing homelessness] for more than 40 years; we host an annual golf tournament in their honor. That tournament has raised more than $1 million since its inception; that money has helped a lot of underprivileged youth get back on their feet. Fighting cancer is tough; it’s a long battle. With Covenant House, you can see the results of our [partnership] more quickly; these young kids turn their lives around. It’s one of our company’s proudest accomplishments, something that we can really see, touch and feel through the stories we’ve heard over the years.”

Words to live by: “My father [Keith] and mother have always been about giving back. I think it’s part of our family spirit and our upbringing as Catholics. We have a very precious amount of time on this Earth, and I want our family and business to be known for doing what’s right, helping others that need help and trying to make this world a little bit better than the way we found it.”

 

Photography by James Woodley

Creative direction by Melanie Geronemus Smit

Edited by Kevin Kaminski and Keren Moros

Shot on location at C&I Studios in Fort Lauderdale