Boston–Twenty-five years and $9 million later, Mohawk last month celebrated its partnership with the Susan G. Komen Foundation by once again “Cushioning the Fight” here at the first of four “3-Days” in 2026.
The Susan G. Komen 3-Day is a 60-mile endurance walk held over a three-day weekend to raise funds and awareness for breast cancer. Participants walk roughly 20 miles each day to support breast cancer research, community health programs and patient care services. Walkers commit to raising a minimum of $2,300 (with lower targets available for partial participation).
For a quarter-century, Mohawk has served as the official flooring sponsor of the Komen organization. Mohawk not only contributes a portion of proceeds from every SmartCushion carpet pad purchase to the cause, but it also volunteers at the 3-Day events and provides SmartCushion for walkers to rest on during lunch stops during their 60-mile journey.
“We became involved because this is a cause that affects everyone,” said Jordan Biasetti, senior manager, marketing programs, Mohawk. “One in eight women develop breast cancer in their lifetime. And you could probably say there’s not anybody who doesn’t know someone affected by the disease. Mohawk wants to do what we can to help.”
When the partnership started, Mohawk developed residential and commercial programs. A portion of the proceeds from specified commercial products go to Komen, but on the residential side it’s always been SmartCushion sales. But it didn’t end there. “About 15 years ago, we said, ‘We have this amazing partnership, but how do we tell people about it? How do we activate it?,’” Biasetti said. “We talked to Komen and they invited us to one of their 3-Days. We immediately saw a need that hadn’t been met.”
That need centered on the 3-Day walk in San Diego, which included overnight outdoor tent camping. In earlier years of the partnership, Mohawk provided SmartCushion for participants to place under their sleeping bags. “You had all these walkers sleeping in tents at night,” Biasetti said. “We realized, ‘Why don’t we bring out the product that actually helps them? Why don’t we Cushion the Fight?’ And that idea was born.”
As the event transitioned away from overnight camping to hotel stays, the purpose of the cushion changed. Today, walkers use the SmartCushion pads for comfortable seating during midday lunch stops where the walkers break about halfway through. “We watched as the walkers would almost speed walk as they approached the lunch stop so they would have the ability to rip off a small piece of cardboard so they didn’t have to sit on wet grass, hot asphalt or in the mud,” Biasetti said. “When we saw that, we started bringing the cushion to lunch. We started with a few boxes and realized everybody wanted a pad. They would actually lay down and rest on it while they rested after the first 10 miles.”
Mohawk became actively involved in the lunch stops as they got to know many of the walkers. As a corporate sponsor, Mohawk became part of the community. “A big part of this has been letting the walkers see our support,” Biasetti said. “When they come into lunch every day, it’s “Let me put the cushion down for you. Let me fill up your water bottle. How are you doing? Tell me about your day. Tell me why you walk.’ They understand that we’re committed. We’re in this with them. We’re part of the pink bubble with them.”
Local retailers also come out in support of the 3-Days. In Boston it was AJ Rose. The Denver events have attracted Carpet Exchange. CC Carpets in Dallas participates. “When there was a Detroit walk, The Carpet Guys would come out,” Biasetti said. “They would make their own pink shirts. And it was fun because everybody in town knew that business, so you had walkers excited to talk to them.”
Karen Odell, director of partnership activations for Susan G. Komen, could not overstate the importance of Mohawk’s involvement with the organization. “First of all, our participants see there’s a company out there that cares so much, shows up year and after and is all in,” she said. “And just the consistency of knowing that we have this partnership that is making an impact on participants’ lives through the donations and the commitment gives us the ability to plan and fund research.”
Odell also talked about the importance of forming relationships with the people at Mohawk and seeing the dedication of all the employees as well as the retail community. “For me, personally, it just makes a huge difference in knowing when I go to work every day that I have a company like Mohawk backing us up and truly believing in the Komen mission.”
Both Odell and Biasetti stressed the importance of donations. “A lot of people say, ‘My $500 is not going to go cure cancer.’ But when people donate and participate, it’s not just to find a cure for cancer,” Odell said. For example, health equity has been such a big part of this over the years, Biasetti said. “Yes, that $500 isn’t going to immediately cure cancer, but that $500 is going to provide childcare for somebody who otherwise wouldn’t be able to get treatment that day. Or maybe it’s their bus fare to get treatment. There’s so much more that the funds are used for.”
Odell added: “I think that one of the easiest things to see is the financial assistance [we provide] for patients who qualify that are going through treatment to support things like buying groceries or paying for gas to get to their appointment. The essentials for getting cured of the disease as opposed to finding a cure for the disease. And making sure people have the ability to get to their appointments so they can get the treatment they need to be here for a long time.”
To get involved, Biasetti suggested retailers can support SmartCushion. There are also many 5K walks throughout the year across the country. They can visit susangkomen.com to get all the information about the 3-Days and 5Ks.