The Roberta Tree

Roberta Bruckschen passed and went to be with the Lord on Saturday morning April 1, 2006 at her home in Sterling.

This article is a tribute to Roberta Bruckschen, a dear friend to all of The LINK Organization and our community. The article was originally published in 2008 however I felt the need to update and publish again.

Roberta was honored by the LINK Organization on June 24, 2008. The Dogwood Tree and engraved Stone Dedication took place at the LINK Food Pantry in Herndon.

Jane Larson arranged for the tree planting and care for it; Linda Keefer ordered and placed the stone, George Lingg, Reverend White and Father Donald Howard all spoke about Roberta’s accomplishments. This living memorial continues to be a testimony to the blessing that Roberta Bruckschen was to LINK, to Christ the Redeemer Catholic Church and to so many people who reside in our community.

“Roberta was a special lady who helped so many people in our community. She was Ms. LINK serving those in need even to the end of her life,” said a former Herndon resident the late Joy Trickett and past president of LINK. When Sterling resident Roberta Bruckschen was in LINK’s food pantry stocking the shelves, she wanted to remain there.

“It’s addicting. You get in there and you just can’t quit,” said Bruckschen, a LINK volunteer in the early 1970s who returned to the nonprofit, all-volunteer organization in the late 1990s. “I had a lot of time to get involved with people in need.” Roberta, after retirement, served as the food pantry coordinator year-round, putting in an average of two to three hours a day until the holiday season, when she worked about eight hours a day.

“She was open to helping people out. It didn’t matter if it was night or day or the weekend. She just cared about other people,” said Herndon resident Carol Lavery, past vice president of LINK and a volunteer for the organization for 13 years. “For the small detailed things, we know we could call her. We knew she would find somebody to assist.”

Roberta made sure the pantry was staffed with volunteers — two people to rotate answering the phones every two weeks and four people to load up boxes of food for delivering to needy families in Ashburn, Sterling and Herndon 52 weeks a year. She found at least one person to pick up food from the Sterling Park Safeway four days a week to deliver to the pantry, the homeless shelters in Loudoun and Fairfax counties and a subsidized housing unit in Sterling Park. “It’s good there are organizations out there that can help. We have assisted many people who suffered a job loss or other trauma, over the years,” Bruckschen said.

“Some of the families we assist with food help to loosen up some of their money to pay bills and buy medicines,” Bruckschen said. LINK’s multi member churches take turns each month collecting and delivering food to the needy. One of these churches is the one Bruckschen attended, Christ the Redeemer Catholic in Sterling.

Before LINK organized in 1972, Christ the Redeemer, formally Sterling Park Catholic, fixed food baskets for the needy, sometimes overlapping the work of other churches by delivering to the same families. LINK was established in 1972 when five churches decided to coordinate their efforts and avoid the double deliveries. “Lots of Churches did it, that’s why we started working together,” Bruckschen said.

After LINK was established, Roberta volunteered with the organization, helping collect and deliver the food that had to be stored in the homes of LINK volunteers until about 1997 when the food pantry in Herndon was built. “I felt the need was out there,” she said. “I like the feeling, the gratification, what it is to help people who need the help. I guess you can appreciate the gift of life more knowing you’re able to help others.”

Each year, Roberta’s volunteer workload increased during the holidays. She sent letters to 60 public and private schools in two counties asking for support of the holiday food baskets given to needy families, and then arranged dates to pick up the food the schools collected. Later, she started answering the phone lines to help those seeking to receive the food baskets during the Holiday Basket programs.

Roberta knew all the school social service liaisons who kept her apprised regarding children who were not getting enough to eat. She made sure those families received groceries from LINK. Roberta had a great deal of program insight about the Sterling and Herndon indigent population.

A former community volunteer the late Ed Linek called Roberta "a gold mine in Sterling." "Her efforts with LINK and other organizations have helped many people in this community," said Linek, a Sterling resident. "She was a quiet lovable individual that did her charity work without a big fanfare.”

“We all team together to help each other out when we get these volunteer jobs … if we get overextended,” said Bruckschen. Roberta was an active member of the Ladies Auxiliary to the Veterans of Foreign Wars, where she served as treasurer and secretary for 13 years. She was also a member of the legendary Sterling Ruritan Club (founded 1952). She and her husband Mr. Hugh Bruckschen, a retired printer from the American Newspapers Association who also volunteers, have three children and four grandchildren. They were married 50 years.

I always considered Roberta to be one of the leaders in the LINK organization. She was a great mentor to people who were just beginning to volunteer. We had many phone conversations regarding how to better build community awareness of the LINK mission. Roberta knew both the Sterling and Herndon non profit organizations.

God bless Roberta Bruckschen. We will not soon forget her.

Note: Since 1972 LINK Inc., an all volunteer-based non-profit organization has provided emergency support to individuals and families in crisis. LINK currently provides services to the citizens of Loudoun and Fairfax counties with a primary focus in the communities of Herndon, Sterling and Ashburn. Services offered by LINK include emergency food delivery, financial assistance, and annual holiday basket programs.

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