Message to Volunteers from President and CEO, Steve Bass

Dear Volunteers,  

April marks National Volunteer Month. For 17 years, it has offered me the opportunity to reflect on the tremendous impact of community members contributing their time and talents to OPB. During our time together, we’ve experienced major evolutions as an organization. Together, we’ve transformed from a TV and radio broadcasting station to a premier regional journalism organization, reporting vital news and telling enriching stories across multiple platforms, including web and social media. Similarly, the ways in which volunteers extend our capacity and further our impact has continued to grow and evolve throughout the years. Your contributions, both then and now, have helped build the robust institution we are today, and have set us up for success well into the future.  

In a few months, I’ll be stepping back from my role as CEO. So, I’m grateful for the opportunity to celebrate you one last time. Since I began my tenure in 2006, thousands of volunteers have contributed hundreds of thousands of hours in support of our public service mission. Some of you were a part of OPB before my time and will continue serving long after. Others have joined us just in the last couple of months. To all of you, I wish to extend my heartfelt gratitude for helping to create and sustain this essential public service, freely accessible to everyone.   

You are part of a team of 186 volunteers who contributed nearly 8,500 hours of service in the past year. Whether you edited computer-generated transcripts, moderated our social media pages, represented OPB at special events, connected with community members during membership drives, or assisted with administrative projects, you helped OPB do more to serve the community than we could ever do alone. We wish to express our sincere gratitude for your service to the community.  

Last year, OPB celebrated 100 years of service by drafting a new mission statement to guide our work into the future: Connecting people across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest through the power of a shared story. As we step into our next century of service, we are excited and inspired by the possibilities that lie ahead. The impacts that you and your fellow volunteers have made serve as a testament to what we can accomplish when we come together as a community. You are part of OPB’s shared story.  

I will treasure my time spent with you and will continue to be inspired by the work you do in service to your fellow community members.  

Sincerely,

Steve Bass
President & CEO