Volunteer Spotlight: Debra Burke

Meet Debra: 30+ Year Volunteer

 
Debra’s life has been interwoven with The Environmental Center for several decades.

But since March, our facility has been shut down to visitors and renters due to COVID-19, and most staff have been exclusively working from home. TEC’s physical office is a quieter place these days. After 31 years, Debra felt the time was right to transition out of her volunteer gig. She’s been around TEC longer and knows more about the organization than many of our staff & Board – so of course we had to give her a call to reminisce!

When Debra moved here from Vermont, she took up residence at Pilot Butte Motor Inn. (She recalls it was around $18/night.)  TEC’s current building was then the Manager’s Office for the Inn. Her connection to TEC started early on….and little did she know that she’d have a life-long connection to that building’s legacy.

When did you start volunteering with TEC, and can you give us an idea of the roles and responsibilities you’ve held?

It was October of 1989. Back then, TEC was called the Natural Resource Center (NRC) and was located over on Newport Ave. When I moved here, I knew I wanted to get plugged in and meet people. I don’t remember how I first learned of NRC, but my passion has always been environmentalism. I realized that volunteering would be a great way to meet people in a new town.

I started off volunteering at the Nature Store. (Debra mentioned this was similar to the current shop found at High Desert Museum.) A staff woman named Monet Bossert got this concept going in order to bring in money. Nature store volunteers would help customers, answer phone calls, and bring handwritten messages upstairs to staff. We sold things like guides and books for local flowers, trees, and hikes. Some artwork and maps. One day, a man came in to buy a laminated map of Oregon. When he got home, he called to ask me out. That man, Greg, is now my husband of 28 years!

In the beginning I volunteered at the Nature Store every other Saturday. Then I fell into a routine of volunteering every Friday for about four hours, at least in the beginning. Up until 2015, I rode my bike each week the ~20 miles roundtrip. And when I started to get tired, I got an e-bike to help me. Sometimes I’d be asked to go ride around to put up event posters and fliers. That made for a long day!

I made a lot of phone call reminders, sent out mailings, managed room rental schedules, vacuumed, maintained the community board and brochure rack. At one point I was helping to collect cell phones to be recycled. Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA) used me quite heavily to support their “Clean Stream Initiative.” I helped to gather signatures in order to get it on the ballot. Learned pretty quickly you need to have a thick skin for that kind of work!

The Nature Store was located in the current “High Desert Room” – the smaller of our two meeting rooms. At the time, Bill Marlett was the Director of both ONDA and TEC.

Could you share a memory from the early days, about the facility or otherwise?

TEC once housed a lot of other organizations considered ‘Member Groups,’ for example: Oregon Trout, ONDA, Oregon Natural Resources Council (now Oregon Wild), and Bend Community Trees. Eventually Biking for a Better Community (now Commute Options) was up there, as was Eco Teams, and we had several AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers as well.

I remember it was pretty confusing to have groups called ONRC and NRC in the same space. (Tim Lilleblo was the Eastern Representative for ONRC at this time.) I think that’s why we ultimately changed our name to the Central Oregon Environmental Center.

We still have Partner Groups, but they operate in their own office spaces these days.
Eco Teams was a program that helped neighborhoods reduce their carbon footprint, involving a chapter book that families followed together. 

And here’s a pretty funny memory: The staff have gone through phases, like sitting on bouncy balls at their desks, to the current standing desks. One time Jackie had an education intern who was working from her medicine ball “chair.” It popped right underneath her! Once we knew she was OK, we all had a good laugh.

How have you seen TEC, or TEC’s role in Central Oregon, change or evolve over time?

It was an exciting day when TEC’s building was moved to its current home on Kansas Ave. Everyone was super aware of the move; it was a big deal. I remember it coming down the roads because all the power lines overhead had to be moved. It was a donated building with lots of donated labor. But moving those power lines – I bet that was a major expense.

Once the building was moved, it needed a lot of renovation and it took quite some time. Maureen Sweeny coordinated all the volunteers and material donations. My husband, Greg, is a contractor and he helped a lot with hands-on projects. It was a big undertaking.

Maureen is married to Peter Geiser – who has been on our Board of Directors for 31 years. When Debra and Greg lived in Bend, before building an off-grid home East of town, they were neighbors with Maureen and Peter. Greg is also one of the primary volunteers behind ONDA’s annual Wild & Scenic calendar. So many connections!

It’s been very cool watching TEC morph over time. With each leader or major turnover of staff, things change pretty dramatically. The biggest morph was when leadership transitioned from Shauna to Mike. Mike came on board from ReSource and brought a whole education team with him (Denise, Jackie, Katie…). I could sense things were changing. And, more renovation work! It’s been interesting to just flow with all the changes.

Why did you want to volunteer/why were you drawn to TEC?

I love connecting with people. You start out as strangers, and then connect over your love for the environment. Volunteering at TEC has helped me to keep my ears open to what’s happening across the community and within different organizations. TEC always has a variety of information available. It’s different than volunteering for one group where there’s one specific focus. Plus every now and then, volunteers are asked for their own opinions. I like the feeling of, ‘Wow – things are happening, and I am a part of it.”

TEC offered me a predictable, steady volunteer role and that really worked for me. I could always make time and room for it in my schedule each week. I appreciate the casualness of the office. It’s not uptight and you don’t feel judged.

I chuckled when Debra shared, “There’s never any gossiping in the office!” 

Debra has been working as a gardener and caregiver for years, in addition to managing her own 20-acre property. Going forward, she plans to spend lots of time in clients’ gardens and her own produce garden, and to enjoy more camping trips. We have no doubt she’ll continue to serve our Central Oregon community and natural world.

Thank you, thank you, Debra. We are so grateful for you, and will miss seeing you each week!