A Celebration of Time, Talent, and Dedication

There are volunteers and then there’s Bruce Robertson.

For more than two decades, the Marco resident has dedicated himself to serving the Conservancy of Southwest Florida by employing his impressive carpentry skills at the Naples-based environmental organization’s nature center.

Robertson’s efforts were recognized recently with the nonprofit Volunteer of the Year Award for 2024. The honor was announced at the Conservancy’s annual Volunteer Appreciation Breakfast.

Since coming aboard in 2004, he has accumulated more than 3,100 volunteer hours at the Conservancy’s von Arx Wildlife Hospital, where he’s constructed and maintained wildlife rehabilitation enclosures and built a custom conference table for the organization’s Environmental Studies Dormitory. He’s even designed tools to support animal care, such as mobility devices for gopher tortoises and hammocks for raccoons.

A Marco resident since 1999, Robertson said he was “very appreciative and honored” to receive the award.

“You know, I think there're 400 volunteers over the whole campus,” he said. “They have boat captains and they have all kinds of conservation people. They have the guy doing the pythons now. There are a lot of people involved in making that place go.”

Volunteers were honored for extraordinary service during the past year, having contributed a combined 30,000 hours of service. The breakfast recognized milestones of five, 10, 15, and 20-year volunteer anniversaries, as well as celebrations of 500-to-10,000 hours of supporting the conservancy.

“We are deeply grateful to our volunteers, who are the backbone of the Conservancy’s work,” said the organization’s President and CEO, Rob Moher. “From wildlife rehabilitation to environmental education, our impact in this community would not be what it is without our army of volunteers who help us protect our water, land, wildlife, and future.”

A lifelong nature lover, Robertson is a native of Ft. Washington, Pennsylvania, who is also a lifelong carpentry hobbyist. He moved to Marco after retiring from his family’s now 98-year-old, Philadelphia-area business. The business, Robertson Flowers, with its parties, exhibits, displays, and yearly participation in the Philadelphia Flower Show, also provided opportunities for him to utilize his woodworking skills.

Business demands kept him from having time for volunteering during his professional career. However, the energetic pace he’d become accustomed to over the years didn’t dissipate when he stepped away from the world of work. So, he turned to volunteering, first at Rookery Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve to fill that void.

“I couldn't sit around and I didn't want to play golf every day, so I needed something that felt good and where I could use the skills I have,” said Robertson. “I was on the board there for quite a while, and then when I got off of it, I knew the Conservancy needed volunteers,” he said. “So, I just filled out a form and that's how it all started.”

He said he quickly found a home at the Conservancy.

“They needed a lot of help building things and fixing things and inventing things over and above what the regular staff does there,” explained Robertson. “So, it got to where the more I did, the more I liked the place. And I just hit it off with the people, and I had my own schedule. They even gave me my own work area. And I have a blackboard there with the list of things that have to be done. And I just show up whenever I want. It was just the perfect fit for me.”