Furniture First Golf Tournament Raises Over $56K for Three Charities

June 16, 2026  by Karen Parrish in Business Strategy, Industry   

Furniture First supplier and service partners sponsored the event, including Bread Financial, Serta Simmons Bedding, Tempur-Sealy, Flexsteel, Liberty Furniture, Knorr Marketing, American First Finance, Argent, American Woodcrafters, Tools2BFirst, Montage, 3Z Brands, Acima, Orbit Interactive Marketing Group, Dispatch Track, Guardsman, Kafene, Rize Home, SoMo Home, Xsensor, and R&A Marketing.

“Thanks to our sponsors this year’s outing was a huge success,” said Mike Kordik, Director of Member Engagement at Furniture First. “The Furniture First Ignite Charity Golf Outing allows our members and vendor sponsor partners to network during a fun filled event while raising money for charity. Because of our sponsors and members, we exceeded last year’s donation amount, even with adding a local charity this year. I can’t wait to see what our denotation amount will be at next year’s Ignite Golf Outing in Denver.”

Prizes from the tournament were awarded on Tuesday, June 2nd, during the Furniture First Ignite luncheon in several notable categories:

- The Closest to the Pin prize for Ladies resulted in a four-way tie between Carrie Silvia (Rize Home), Stephanie Short (Short Home Furnishings), Jessica Smith (Talsma Furniture), and Erin Krueger (5th and Main by Freeds).

- Closet to the Pin for the Men was awarded to Shawn Batts (Highland Furniture Shop.)

- Longest Drive, Ladies was awarded to Stephanie Short (Short Home Furnishings.)

- Most Honest Golfers: Carrie Silvia (Rize Home,) Stephanie Short (Short Home Furnishings) Dion Plante (Callan Furniture,) and Chris Short (Short Home Furnishings.)

- Lowest Team Score: Chris Osowski (Xsensor,) Shawn Batts (Short Home Furnishings,) Rusty Morris (American Woodcrafters,) and Ricky Christian (Esprit Decor.)

The golf tournament proceeds were supplemented with a 50/50 raffle with two winners: KB Madan of Dispatch Track, and Gabe Hornelaz of Joe's Furniture Co. Later that evening, during dinner, Furniture First presented checks for $18,850 to Ante 4 Autism, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, and Arlington Hearts and Hands. Doug Krinsky of 3Z Brands accepted the funds on behalf of the charity he founded, Ante 4 Autism. Furniture First member Lisa Hawkins, owner of Room to Room Furniture in Tupelo, MS, accepted funds on behalf of St. Jude Children’s Hospital, a cause she has supported with charitable efforts at her furniture store. Bill Webster, a representative from Arlington Hearts and Hands, accepted the donation on behalf of the local, all-volunteer non-profit food and clothing pantry.

“We plan to make a charitable golf tournament part of our Ignite conference going forward” said Andrew Kauffman, CEO of Furniture First. “We like to support good causes that deserve more attention. This year we added were happy to benefit a local community-based organization in addition to Ante 4 Autism and St. Jude. We plan to follow the same model next year when we’re in Denver for the Ignite conference May 17-19, 2027.”

Furniture First, a national cooperative buying group serving full line independent retailers with sales over $2 million. Collectively, the group sells $3 billion at retail. Furniture First will have representatives at the Las Vegas Market in the showroom of bedding supplier partner, 3Z Brands at B1380. For more information on Furniture First Membership, please visit www.JoinFurnitureFirst.com or call 800-411-3477.