True Digital Surgery vice president of corporate development September Riharb goes into her windup to toss a pie at the face of chairman and CEO Aidan Foley.
To show their support for October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month, on Wednesday the employees of Goleta-based surgical microscope company True Digital Surgery afforded its employees an opportunity that they don’t get very often, throwing pies at the faces of the company’s executives.
The event was held in the parking lot outside the company’s office on Cremona Drive and raised money for the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Santa Barbara, which provides services such as breast cancer education and mammogram programs.
According to a press release, TDS employees could donate $25, which would allow them to throw a pie at the face of one of the TDS’s six vice president-level executives, or $50 to pie the company’s chairman and CEO Aidan Foley.
In an interview with the News-Press, Mr. Foley said his company wanted to help support the fight against breast cancer as the illness impacts so many women and is the most lethal cancer for females, with 2.1 million breast cancer tumors that need to be surgically treated every year globally.
On top of that, Mr. Foley said that TDS wanted to get involved because of breast cancer’s impact on the local community and people who work for his company.
“We wanted to see what we could do to help that situation. It’s certainly something that affects our company and our families.”
He added, “We’re also part of the Santa Barbara community and Goleta in general and the community of our company, where again, these are kind of unfortunately, illnesses that affect people within our company.”
As he and his employees gathered in the parking lot outside the office around 2:30 p.m., Mr. Foley said he, like anyone else, didn’t exactly wake up in the morning ready to get a pie or five in the face. However, he was willing to do it for a good cause.
“It’s the least I can do to try to help this horrible disease,” he said.
For his own sake, the CEO hoped his employees were throwing those pies from a place of love.
“I don’t know if I should be a little concerned or take it as a compliment that so many of my teammates want to hit me with a pie, but I’m choosing to take it as a compliment,” he said.
Before taking the pies himself, Mr. Foley participated, along with the rest of his staff, as they tossed whipped cream pies at the other TDS executives.
The executives took their turns standing behind a wooden target stand, with a cut hole for the bullseye just large enough for their heads to fit through. TDS employees and other executives who hadn’t been behind the target yet or already had their share of pies to the face, tossed around 50 pies that day.
Mr. Foley was the last person to have pies hurled at him, and even though one or two may have missed, TDS vice president of corporate development September Riharb made sure the last two didn’t.
To top off the event, she walked straight up to the CEO with the last two pies, pressed them both into his face, and the company personnel cheered.
According to TDS marketing director Barry Stagg, the company raised a “few thousand” dollars for the Breast Cancer Resource Center.
email: jgrega@newspress.com
