Mark Burkett
There would be no Harrison Foundation, much less a Furbish Thrift, if not for Mark Burkett. It was all his idea. Little did we know when Mark suggested we open a thrift store to benefit animal causes, that his idea would blossom into the moving force it has become.
This is far from Mark’s first success. He is a co-founder of Mongrel, the award-winning card and gift shop that has evolved into a Carytown anchor store since it opened in 1991. Mark is also a co-founder of chocolatepaper, a greeting card and chocolate shop located in the Roanoke City Market. Both stores are consistently voted a best in their class by local media/readers.
Mark’s love of animals, his vision and his years of retail experience, has been more than significant in whatever successes we have experienced. And there have been many.
Mark Burkett
One of the objectives we had discussed when designing the Foundation, was to establish a veterinarian technician scholarship. A few months ago, our board chair, Laura Cotterman, suggested that we name the scholarship in honor of Mark, as a means of acknowledging his dedication to our work. Thus, we now fund the Mark W. Burkett Scholarship and are already making it possible for our first deserving student to pursue her degree.
While Mark is no longer on the board, we continue to rely on him for guidance and will always be indebted to him for his vision and leadership in making this dream a reality.
Our First Recipient
We are proud to announce our first scholarship award to Tracy Roberg.
After retiring from a 23- year Army career, Tracy “needed a new passion.” Caring for animals had always been an important part of her life, growing up on a farm in rural North Dakota. “As a youth I participated in 4-H and while at Ohio University pursuing my Bachelor’s in social work, I helped with cat rescue and TNR with Athens Humane Society,” she shared.
After Tracy moved to Virginia, she worked at Kincheloe Spay and Neuter Clinic in Fredericksburg and is now the clinic manager at the Kincheloe Clinic in Ashland.
Tracy says “I found that licensed vet techs are critically scarce and after desperately trying to recruit techs for the clinic, I decided to become one in order to help the animals who need it the most. I see needless suffering of the shelter animals and am beyond excited for this opportunity.”