The latest events hosted by the Seena Magowitz Foundation included a night at the museum, a brunch with leading pancreatic cancer doctors and clinicians, and a dinner on a Major League Baseball field. It was a celebration of progress in the fight against the scourge of pancreatic cancer.
Despite the deadly toll exacted by that cancer, the weekend of events featured a spirit of hope, as pancreatic cancer survivors shared their stories of determination and triumph.
The seven events held in Milwaukee in August were attended by more than 300 people and raised almost $608,000. And they marked a continuing expansion of the lifesaving work sponsored and supported by the Seena Magowitz Foundation, launched by bedding veteran Roger Magowitz.
The foundation started small back in 2003 with a modest golf tournament in Phoenix, one that Magowitz hosted as he transformed his grief over the loss of his mother, Seena, into a crusade to find a cure for the disease that took her life, and claims about 50,000 lives each year. That first tournament raised just $10,000, and Magowitz admitted it was a makeshift effort.
Over the years, that golf outing has evolved into a major pancreatic cancer fundraiser, welcoming mattress industry leaders, pancreatic cancer survivors and health care professionals to high-profile events across the country.
Those events have raised almost $14 million to fight pancreatic cancer, and those funds have supported research, clinical trials and new drugs and treatments that have prolonged and saved lives, Magowitz says.
Now the Seena Magowitz Foundation has, literally, arrived in the big leagues, as evidenced by the “Dinner on the Diamond” events it has held at major league ballparks in Phoenix and now, once again, in Milwaukee.
And it has put a major-league focus on pancreatic cancer, the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the country, one that has the lowest rate of early detection and remains the most difficult cancer to treat.
But those challenges have only deepened Magowitz’s commitment to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. The retired mattress retailer, 65, who worked at Mattress Discounters, Bedroom Eyes and Mattress Firm over the years, has overseen the steady growth of his foundation.
“This event has grown beyond my wildest dreams,” Magowitz said, standing on a stage near second base on the infield of American Family Field, the home of the Milwaukee Brewers. It was the 19th time he has welcomed attendees to his signature event; the pandemic shifted the events in 2020 and 2021 into virtual modes.
Looking out at almost 300 people seated before him, about half of whom were pancreatic cancer patients and caregivers, he recalled the “profound loss” of his mother, an “extraordinary woman who died at 64. Her strength and courage in the face of this brutal disease inspired me to action.”
Magowitz has been tireless in his work.
Early on, he reached out to leading physicians to learn more about pancreatic cancer and to support the cutting-edge research they were conducting. Phoenix-based Dr. Daniel Von Hoff, one of the world’s foremost oncologists, medical researchers and cancer specialists, has been a key mentor over the years.
In his welcoming address in Milwaukee, Magowitz recalled the time he met him and addressed him as “Dr. Von Hoff.” “My name is not Dr. Von Hoff,” was the response. “It’s Dan.” Magowitz said he has “appreciated his leadership, passion and drive as he mentored me and helped me navigate this hideous disease.”
Von Hoff and his wife, Ann, attended the dinner and participated in events that weekend.
Magowitz saluted the doctors and researchers who have joined the fight against pancreatic cancer. “You are our heroes,” he said. “You have changed the landscape of pancreatic cancer care.”
The mattress industry has been a major supporter of the Seena Magowitz events over the years. Companies like Mattress Firm, Leggett & Platt, Serta Simmons Bedding, Tempur-Pedic (now Tempur Sealy International), Corsicana and Protect-A-Bed were key early supporters who helped put the foundation on a pathway to success.
Major bedding sponsors for the Milwaukee event included Customatic Technologies, which sponsored the dinner at the ballpark, and Leggett & Platt.
Magowitz maintains close ties with many bedding industry executives and continues to impress them with his passion for his work. He sparks his enthusiasm and drive with an unusual motivational strategy: He refuses to wear a watch. He stopped wearing a watch when his mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer back in 2001.
“Time became my enemy, so I took off my watch,” Magowitz recalled of that dark time in his life. “I couldn’t wear a watch because it was like watching time move too quickly. Watching the hands of a clock clicking and ticking meant losing the person I loved most in the world.”
Five months after Seena Magowitz received her diagnosis, she succumbed to pancreatic cancer, a time frame all too familiar to those afflicted with that disease.
But a lot has changed in the world of pancreatic cancer since then. Magowitz has rallied a national fight to make pancreatic cancer a treatable disease and not an automatic death sentence.
And time, once his enemy, has given him more than two decades to honor the memory of his mother and to marshal millions of dollars in his battle against the disease that claimed her life. Magowitz says he’ll begin wearing a watch again when there is a cure for pancreatic cancer. Until then, there is work to be done.
Great article, great cause great event!!