"What did you do this weekend"? It's a typical question that gets asked a million times a day, around the world, every Monday. We posed the question to our team a little differently last week, "What do you do to serve your local community?", and were astounded with the diversity of answers. It's funny how you can learn something about people you've been working with, never having considered their personal projects and why they do what they do. 

We're proud of each member of the JupiterOne Team, and the contributions they make to their local communities. We'd like to encourage you to ask the same question next Monday, and I'll guarantee you, you'll learn something new and meaningful about your team members, no matter how long you've known them. Let us know how it goes. We'd love to hear what's important to you, too.

Here is what members of the JupiterOne Team find important...

Jackson Evans

After losing my mother to the disease, I organize an event each year to raise money and awareness for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. It is an underfunded and important mission and one that I care deeply about.

"PanCAN's vision is to create a world in which all patients with pancreatic cancer will thrive. Our mission is to take bold action to improve the lives of everyone impacted by pancreatic cancer by advancing scientific research, building community, sharing knowledge, and advocating for patients." -- Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

Amy Devers

I have been donating plasma, platelets, and/or whole blood since I was 17 years old. After an error during surgery at 14 years old, an emergency blood transfusion saved my life. I give back to honor those who gave me another chance at living.

"We roll up our sleeves and donate time, money and blood. We learn or teach life-saving skills so our communities can be better prepared when the need arises. We do this every day because the Red Cross is needed - every day." -- The American Red Cross

Mike Cady

I'm big on donating blood as often as possible, too. My dad had a prolonged battle with Lymphoma and definitely would have had fewer years than he did without the help of blood donors. Such a simple and impactful way to help others!

"Each day, thousands of people  – people just like you  – provide compassionate care to those in need. Our network of generous donors, volunteers and employees share a mission of preventing and relieving suffering, here at home and around the world." -- The American Red Cross

Drew Johnson

Like Amy Devers and Mike Cady I often donate blood/platelets. I had the opportunity to donate bone marrow to a stranger a while back through an anonymous donor program by BeTheMatch. It's very rare that registered donors ever even find a match, but a few weeks after I registered I was identified as a match to a woman with leukemia. I went through the whole process and made a speedy recovery and a while after they informed me she made a full recovery after receiving the donation.

"For the thousands of people diagnosed every year with life-threatening blood cancers like leukemia and lymphoma, a cure exists. Over the past 30 years Be The Match ® , operated by the National Marrow Donor Program ® (NMDP), has managed the largest and most diverse marrow registry in the world. We work every day to save lives through transplant." -- Be the Match

Drew Johnson

Henry Garrett, Julia Zolotarev, Sam Hall, Nick Dowmon

A bunch of us work as mentors for Code the Dream, an organization that works with people from low-income backgrounds to make the career switch into technology!

"Code the Dream offers free intensive training in software development to people from diverse low-income backgrounds. In CTD Labs, our coders work with experienced mentors to hone those skills by building apps and technology platforms for a range of startups, nonprofits and government clients. The ultimate aim of Code the Dream is to create a unique win-win, where our coders gain real experience building apps that make the world a little better place, and then use that experience to launch new careers with enormous opportunity for themselves, their families, and their communities." -- Code the Dream

Kylie Snow

Every year, since I was a kid, I buy toys for children at homeless shelters and my family gets together on Christmas Eve to make a bunch of food and cookies and we make plates that we hand deliver to individuals in need on Christmas morning. My husband Casey and I also go to cat shelters to give the cats love and drop off toys, food and other items needed. We also donate a lot to communities in need. And last but not least we will be donating 11- 12 embryos to further infertility research.

"Founded in 1994, SAFE Haven for Cats is Raleigh's no-kill shelter and low-cost spay/neuter clinic. Since opening, SAFE Haven has orchestrated the adoptions of more than 10,000 cats and kittens and spayed or neutered over 30,000 animals in our clinic." -- SAFE Haven for Cats, Raleigh, NC

Sounil Yu

I volunteer as the CISO for Project N95 (https://projectn95.org). This organization obviously had a bit more of an importance during the height of the pandemic, but it's still helping get vetted and genuine PPE to healthcare workers and medical professionals and then using any excess profits to donate PPE to rural areas in the US and countries in need (e.g., India). We have some interesting advisors helping out (https://www.projectn95.org/about), including some Cuban guy and the current White House advisor for the COVID response. Unlike most groups, we all are hoping that this organization goes away sooner than later.

"Project N95 is the National Critical Equipment Clearinghouse for personal protective equipment (PPE), COVID-19 diagnostic tests and critical equipment. In the sometimes chaotic PPE market we serve as a trusted and transparent resource, with established partnerships, comprehensive vetting processes and a mission to get PPE to people who need it as quickly as possible." -- Project N95

Valerie Zargarpur

I don't do the fundraising work myself, but I do event management for non-profits. Mostly running events from 5K to marathon distances, but also some charity balls as well. The endurance events I've managed have collectively raised about $5M for local DC charities, including So Others Might Eat and Casa Ruby, and  and organizations like Back on My Feet, Team RWB and Wounded Warrior Project in the last 10 years.

"Join Back on My Feet's mission to combat homelessness across the country. By supporting Back on My Feet, you make a profound difference in the lives of the homeless. And because we run a lean, efficient and highly effective organization, your support does exactly what you expect it to do: help those experiencing homelessness transform their lives one mile at a time." -- Back on My Feet

Kirk Harlow

For the past 26 years, my wife, Georgia, has been fighting Cystic Fibrosis; she's not only volunteered as candidate for nearly every experimental CF drug trial over the past decade, but Georgia has also been a lead advocate, speaker, and volunteer for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) - a non-profit that brings awareness and donations for CF research and treatment! Every year she raises thousands of dollars during the CFF 'donation campaign' and travels across the country to speak at CFF events and charities! We just moved to North Carolina and she'll now be working alongside the University of NC, and Duke University in their race for the cure! Super proud of her!!!

"The CF Foundation is the world's leader in the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis, and nearly every CF-specific drug available today was made possible with our financial support. We are a donor-funded, 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is fully accredited by the Better Business Bureau's (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance program." -- CF Foundation

Mark Miller

The source of pride that comes from being an acknowledged, published author is something most children will never be able to achieve without a program dedicated to that specific outcome. To encourage young authors, I created a free, online platform for middle and high schools students to write stories, which are then published in a hardcopy book, on Amazon, at the end of the school year. Each author receives a personal copy of the book, with multiple copies going to the school's library. The most recent book was in May 2021.

"Every child should have access to an education. I want to make the Street Snippets platform available to every middle school and high school in the country, whether public or private. In five years, I want to see hard copy books in every student's hands, filled with stories written by them and their peers. Accomplishing this objective will change how thousands of children perceive themselves and their worth." -- Street Snippets