Pierry Blog

What’s for lunch? This is a common question heard around the office, particularly on Tuesdays and Thursdays, when we have lunch brought in for free. Not only is having free lunches in the office twice a week a great perk for Pierry employees, but it also gives us all designated time to sit down, take a break, and share a meal together.

But meals don’t come so easy for many across the U.S., especially in the San Francisco Bay area where an estimated 1 in 4 go hungry every day, surpassing the estimated national statistic of 1 in 6. That’s why Pierry’s Redwood City office decided to team up with Re-Plate, a nonprofit food matching service that combines three of our favorite things around the office—technology, food, and giving back to the community.

Through their platform, Re-Plate is working to lower the Bay Area’s 1:4 hunger statistic by matching extra food from businesses and individuals with the communities that need them. Donating your food is as simple as filling out a form and waiting for someone to pick it up. That’s it.

While many times the lunches we have delivered are eaten immediately, we often find ourselves packing the refrigerator with our leftovers. And even though we encourage employees to finish what’s left the next day, they often sit there until the refrigerator is either overflowing with food, or has gone stale.

Our behavior is not atypical: Nearly 365 million pounds of food is wasted daily in the U.S., food that could go to someone who isn’t readily able to provide it for themselves. It’s a sad, eye-opening statistic, to say the least.

Since January 2016, Re-Plate has created over 77,000 meals and recovered nearly 93,000 pounds of food. We’re excited to be a part of helping to increase these numbers!

Currently, Re-Plate is available to those in San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Oakland, New York City, and Brooklyn, with more to come. To learn more about Re-Plate, including how to donate food, visit www.re-plate.org.

For many, Alzheimer’s is known as a disease that comes with many shocking statistics. It’s the 6th leading cause of death in the United States. It’s is diagnosed every 66 seconds. It affects more than 5 million Americans. But for me, Alzheimer’s is much more than facts and figures—it’s a disease that has changed the person I love most in this world, my mother.

Lucille Barisonek has always had a strong spirit. She raised five children; she worked as a nurse, a magazine editor, and trained to become a pilot. Even as she aged, she didn’t really see the need to slow down. She went on to get her diving certificate and — even in her late seventies –took up kayaking.

But my mother, who lived her life as an unstoppable force, has been no match against Alzheimer’s Disease.

I wish I could say that this chapter in my mother’s life was different, or that she was beating the odds and winning the fight. Instead, I’ve watched her decline over the years. I’ve watched my father care for his wife of sixty years while searching for a treatment or remedy that could slow the progression of this terrible degenerative disease. I’ve watched my mother go from a woman who would try anything, to someone who couldn’t remember where she was going or why.

Today my mother requires around-the-clock care. The only thing Alzheimer’s hasn’t taken away from her is her wide, beaming smile.

Which is why I’m walking to end Alzheimer’s.

On Saturday, October 1, 2016, I’ll join my team, Senior Care of Sacramento, in a walk to raise money that will support the Alzheimer’s Association and their goal to end Alzheimer’s. Held in more than 600 communities across the country, the Alzheimer’s Association Walk to End Alzheimer’s® is the largest event for raising awareness and funds towards Alzheimer’s care, support and research.

Every dollar counts in the fight against Alzheimer’s. I hope you can join me in supporting the fight. Please visit my donations page for more information.

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It’s messy. It’s tough. It’s exhausting. And sometimes you get electrocuted. Come to think of it, minus that last one, running a Tough Mudder really isn’t all that different from being an Account Manager at Pierry. So I guess that explains why no one was all that surprised when I told them I would be running a Tough Mudder in Pittsburgh on September 10^th.

And while many here in the office have told me stories of their own Tough Mudder experiences, warning me that at the end of the day it won’t be even an ounce of fun, I am not shaken. Because my participation is going towards something much tougher—breast cancer research.

Earlier this year, my mom and best friend, Marilyn Luley passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. A fighter through and through, my mom had previously fought and beaten kidney disease, lung cancer, and skin cancer, all while being a single parent. She was the toughest woman I’ll ever know, and running this Tough Mudder seemed like the only appropriate way to honor her.

About 1 in 8 women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. And while efforts to raise awareness about this disease get stronger each year, the only real way to stop breast cancer is through better research, which is why any contributions made to my Tough Mudder campaign will go toward supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF).

Dedicated to the prevention and development of a cure for breast cancer, 91 cents of every dollar donated to the BCRF goes directly toward research and awareness programs, including those centered around tumor biology, heredity and ethnicity, lifestyle factors, prevention, treatment, survivorship, and metastasis.

I invite you to join me in supporting BCRF and their mission to cure a disease that impacts so many women and their families. Visit my donation page for more information.

And on September 10^th, when I’m face down in mud, and my arms and legs are stinging from rope burn, and I’m wondering why the heck I ever decided to do this, I’ll remember the contributions I raised, and most of all, my mom, who taught me to always be strong and keep my head up, even when you’re covered in dirt and crawling under barbed wire.

Everyone knows the expression “a dog is a man’s best friend.” But did you know that every day more than 9,000 dogs and cats are killed in shelters all over the U.S. simply because they don’t have a safe place to call home? This sad-but-real statistic is the reason I’m joining my fellow animal lovers in the Strut Your Mutt fundraising event in Sellwood Riverfront Park in Portland, Oregon on September 10, 2016 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.

This isn’t just another dog walk. Hosted by the Best Friends Animal Society, a nationwide no-kill animal sanctuary, this annual festival takes place in 14 cities across the U.S., as well as online, with one goal in mind—raising funds to support local animal shelters and their efforts to find permanent homes for their animals.

My team, Born Again Pit Bull Rescue (BAPBR) is looking to raise $12,000 towards this amazing cause. Founded in 2007, BAPBR is the longest standing registered non-profit rescue in the Portland Metro area dedicated to improving the lives of Pit Bull Terriers by keeping them out of shelters, providing spay and neutering services, providing owner and shelter support programs and through community education services.

I’ve been an animal lover since before I can remember, and I cannot imagine what my day-to-day life would be like without my dogs by my side. As with all pets, the love, laughter, and friendship they provide is second to none.

I hope you will support BAPBR in raising money for this worthy cause. Check out my donation page to learn more or to contribute.

Blondes vs. Brunettes. This battle has been raging for centuries. But on June 25th, 2016 at 11:00 A.M. at the University of Denver, Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium, blondes and brunettes will turn their longstanding rivalry into a battle for good and raise money to support the Alzheimer’s Association.

Alzheimer’s Disease affects more than 5 million people in the U.S. As the 6th leading cause of death, it kills more people in the U.S. each year than breast and prostate cancer combined. And anyone who has watched a loved one progress through this disease knows what a long, heartbreaking battle it can be.

That’s why a group of professional women founded Blondes vs. Brunettes® (BvB), an event designed to raise awareness, and funds for combatting Alzheimer’s. BvB takes place in more than 35 cities across the country each year, and has raised more than $3 million since its inaugural game in 2005.

Understanding the impact this disease has on so many families, I decided it was time for me to suit up and participate in my first-ever touch football game. As a former rower, I’m no stranger to hard training. But I have to tell you, this touch football game is no joke! For the past month we’ve been practicing up to two times a week to prepare. (We really want to take those brunettes down!)

We also host weekly fundraising events as a team as another way to bring awareness to the disease, while also raising funds that benefit the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer’s Association.

Last year, the Alzheimer’s Association Colorado Chapter BvB game brought in more than $127,000. This year, they’re looking to exceed that number, and that’s where I need your help. Right now, my team (Blondes) is hoping to raise over $72,000. I have a personal goal to raise $600, and would love to not only hit this number, but exceed it.

The money raised at this event will help the Alzheimer’s Association provide resources and education to those living with Alzheimer’s, including patients and caregivers, as well as research for new treatments, and ultimately one day, a cure.

Interested in helping out? Please view my donation page here to contribute.

I want to thank Pierry Software for their corporate sponsorship of the BvB Denver game this year. This contribution will touch many families both in Colorado and across the U.S.

Finally, if you’re in the Denver area on June 25th, be sure to stop by and see who takes home bragging rights—blondes or brunettes!