Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to Berks County Living’s Get Inspired! Project. My guest today is Jason Brudereck. Welcome to the Project, Jason.
Jason Brudereck: Thanks so much for having me.
Toni: I’m happy to have you here. So Jason, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Jason: Sure. I was born and raised here in Berks County, and I’m a 1995 Wilson High School graduate. After that, I went and studied journalism at Boston University, and I had the opportunity to practice journalism in New England and in Florida. Then, I came back to Berks County, and I was a columnist and a reporter for 15 years at the Reading Eagle, and now for just over two years now I’ve been the Director of Communication at Berks County Community Foundation. For those that don’t know what that is, it is a nonprofit that manages donations from private donors who want to fund organizations and projects that improve the quality of life in Berks County. Then, I’m also a volunteer board member of the Literacy Council of Reading/Berks, which I currently serve as Vice President.
Toni: Fantastic. My goodness, with such a busy work life, we’re happy to have you here on the Get Inspired! Project, so let’s go right into it. Jason, what does inspiration mean to you?
Jason: I have given this some thought. Language is important to me because of my background, I guess, and I was thinking that there’s motivation and then there’s inspiration. Motivation is when you have something to gain. You’re seeking something. I see it as a force that’s pulling you along. You’re being pulled forward by a goal. Maybe you study hard because you want to get an ‘A’ or you work hard because you want to get a raise.
Then there’s inspiration. I see inspiration as something that’s pushing you. Where motivation pulls you, inspiration I think pushes you. I see it as a force pushing behind you, and I think inspiration is kind of an uncontrollable sensation. It’s something that occurs in your mind, and it can be a sudden flash or maybe a growing realization, but you feel like maybe not that you want to be a better person because of your inspiration, but that you will be a better person. I see them as two different things.
Toni: I love that. I’ve done many, many interviews, and I love the way that you’ve separated that out like that. Do you think it’s a physical feeling? Do you know when you’re inspired?
Jason: Sometimes I think people do. Sometimes I think it comes after the fact after some introspection, or you look back at the way something came together and you realize that something had inspired you. Maybe you didn’t realize it at the time.
Toni: Do you think motivation and inspiration happen at the same time?
Jason: They can, but I really do think they’re two distinct things.
Toni: I love that. Well, how do you put the inspiration piece when you are moved to do something, how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Jason: I thought I would tell maybe some examples of inspiration that I’ve seen. You look at donors to the Community Foundation. Maybe some of them are motivated by tax breaks for their donations, but I think most of them, rather than being motivated, are inspired by groups that are doing good work, or maybe by volunteering that they see around the community, or the way that someone was helped. I think inspiration is responsible for a lot of those types of actions.
Then, when I used to volunteer for Meals on Wheels, the volunteers there were inspired by the smiles and the gratitude of the people receiving those meals. Then at the Literacy Council, our volunteer tutors there are inspired by their students. Those students are overcoming barriers to employment and education, so that students are motivated, and then the students inspire their tutors, and then for me as a board member, I get inspiration from both the students and the tutors.
Toni: I like that. I’m wondering, speaking of the Berks County Community Foundation, if someone is donating their money, like you said, they may be motivated by a tax break, but then isn't it kind of cool that when they see how that money is spent for a really amazing cause, they may be really inspired and have never thought they would be that inspired? Do you see that?
Jason: We do see that. We talk to our donors about what they want to do and what they want to see happen with their donated funds. It’s very clear to us very often that someone has been inspired to fund an organization to do something maybe in memory of someone that inspired them. Yeah, we see people who are inspired walk through our doors all the time.
Toni: Jason, when was the last time you were inspired? Do you remember?
Jason: Oh boy. That is a tough one. The last time I was inspired? You had said you might ask me of someone who does inspire me?
Toni: That’s actually the next question.
Jason: Well, this person who inspires me, I revisit his circumstances in my mind fairly often, because I see updates about him on social media. So my person does inspire me on a regular basis, and that’s Derrick Redcay. Do you recall his story?
Toni: I do, but go ahead. Can you tell a bit of it?
Jason: Sure. It was about two-and-a-half years ago, and he was just a normal Muhlenberg High School senior who was looking forward to going to college and studying to become a professional firefighter. He had been a volunteer firefighter. One day he went to school like any other day, and he began to feel a numbness that spread through his body. By that night, he was in intensive care in Philadelphia, and here he had suffered a stroke of the spinal cord, and he was paralyzed from the neck down. He has just pushed forward and never given up. He’s regained some movement and he’s maintained a positive attitude, for the most part. Today he’s employed by State Senator Judy Schwank and works in her office.
Toni: I didn’t know that.
Jason: Yeah. So he’s really amazing, what he’s done. It’s been two-and-a-half years now. When I think about him, he inspires me. I happened to spend some time with him over the two-and-a-half years since that has happened to him. He’s not a motivation for me. I don’t get anything out of seeing his circumstance. It doesn’t provide a goal or anything for me, so he’s an inspiration. He pushes me along, and what he does is he makes me think of two things: one - don’t sweat the small stuff, and two - persevere, and keep going forward.
Toni: What an amazing example of someone who inspires you. That’s a great answer. Anybody else inspire you in Berks County?
Jason: There are a lot of people, and I hesitate to single a couple of them out beyond someone who’s truly extraordinary like Derrick. I’m afraid if I singled out some more people, I would leave some people out.
Toni: Okay, fair enough. What do you want your legacy to be, Jason?
Jason: That’s pretty simple. I would like for people to say that I tried my best to help people.
Toni: It’s as simple as that. I say this over and over again. It is so cool for me to sit across from people who are living their legacy. Thank you so much for showing up for the Get Inspired! Project.
Jason: Thank you.
