Sleep Number Announces Partner of Year Award with ACS

February 2, 2023  by HFBusiness Staff in Business Strategy, Industry   

The national honor recognizes Sleep Number as a leading supporter in the fight against cancer and its meaningful impact to ACS’s mission.

Sleep Number and ACS announced a landmark partnership on World Cancer Day 2022 to conduct joint research with the goal of developing the first-ever sleep guidelines for cancer patients and survivors.

Over the next five years, ACS will leverage Sleep Number’s proprietary sleep data and sleep expertise in its research to identify the impact of quality sleep on cancer prevention and recovery.

Additionally, Sleep Number supports ACS’s Hope Lodges, providing Sleep Number^® smart beds and other sleep innovations to support patients and caregivers when they need to stay away from home during treatment.

According to Dave Benson, ACS executive vice president, north region, “Sleep Number exemplified what ACS hopes to find in partners. We honor partners that go above and beyond and use every facet of their influence to help support our mission.”

“Working with Sleep Number to develop new data and advance science to be used in the fight against cancer is incredible. We’re extremely grateful for Sleep Number’s partnership.”

“We are honored to partner with the American Cancer Society, and to help end cancer as we know it, for everyone,” said Shelly Ibach, chair, president and CEO, Sleep Number.

“Prior ACS research and guidelines – like those on diet and tobacco - have made an indelible impact on all of our health. Our joint research on sleep and cancer will add to that remarkable body of evidence. If sleep can play even a small part in cancer prevention – or, importantly, enhance the quality of life for a patient, caregiver or survivor - we have truly lived our purpose to improve the health and wellbeing of society.”

“Sleep Number’s commitment to our mission directly helps patients and their caregivers by strengthening their emotional, mental and physical health, leading to an improved quality of life,” said Dr. Karen E. Knudsen, chief executive officer, American Cancer Society.

"Together, our teams are developing a deeper understanding of quality sleep’s impact on cancer prevention and recovery. We share a passion for improving lives and have built a terrific foundation for what comes next: improving sleep outcomes for cancer patients and survivors.”

In addition to their research partnership, Sleep Number collaborates with ACS on various initiatives to further their commitment to the Society’s mission, including:
-  In partnership with NFL Crucial Catch and ACS, Sleep Number will host ACS’s “Defender,” a digital cancer risk assessment tool, inside its content studio at the media center at Super Bowl LVII. Defender uses a simple quiz to promote cancer screenings and prevention, and will be available for media, players and radio row guests to check their risk for cancers. For every complete Defender assessment between Feb. 6-20, Sleep Number will match with a donation of $100, up to $50,000, to ACS. Participants have a chance to win a Sleep Number 360^® p5 smart bed or autographed jerseys by Justin Jefferson, Dak Prescott and Micah Parsons.
-  Today, Sleep Number will also donate 360^® smart beds, including the new Climate360™ smart bed, and bedding to the Charleston, SC Hope Lodge – ACS’s first-ever Hope Lodge and the first facility of its kind in the country for cancer patients and caregivers. 
-  Sleep Number provides ongoing support for the Champions of Hope gala, an annual event benefitting ACS. In 2022, the event raised more than $500,000 to support the mission and work of ACS, including operational costs of the Minnesota Hope Lodges in Minneapolis and Rochester.
-  A passionate advocate for ACS’s mission, Shelly Ibach serves as the chairperson for the Society’s CEOs Against Cancer Minnesota chapter, rallying the business community to improve            the lives of people with cancer and their families through research and patient and caregiver support and advocacy.