Acceptance

When I walked into The Salvation Army food pantry, inquiring about a volunteer position, I was immediately led into the warm and whimsical office of the manager, Tina. It almost felt like a job interview, and I started to panic as a thought rang out in my head: “What if I’m not accepted for a position?”

Acceptance is one theme that I have focused on throughout this online senior capstone project, in the course titled Mobilizing Hope at Portland State University.  This course asks students to reflect on personal faith traditions, beliefs, and wonderings, and to use these as a foundation for social justice activism. Without a solid faith tradition, I feared that I wouldn’t have enough of a foundation for the course requirement. As I have grown to find out, acceptance is quite a strong foundation to have. While “belief” and “acceptance” can be used interchangeably to define one another, there are cases where believing and accepting come to have different connotations.
Humans face possibilities of acceptance and rejection, whether it be trivial or life changing, but a challenge lies within a deeper acceptance of humanity. People have the tendency to become wrapped up in immediate personal needs, schedules, loved ones, jobs, careers, education, hobbies, dreams, desires, material possessions, finances, the past, present, future, and overall living to one’s full potential. It is common that one could forget; while this seems like a day in the life of an average member of society, this is not a comparative lifestyle for everyone living on the planet. There is war, suffering, starvation, and oppression worldwide. It becomes a matter of subjective value and necessity, but we are all human. That never changes. With the acceptance of another person’s condition and place in the world comes the willingness to reach out when necessary. This course has taught me to start small; one person cannot save the world, but collectively, each person can play a small part in making a difference. Instead of despairing about the rest of the world, I was given the opportunity to proactively take part in helping other human beings in the town that I reside in. This leads to another important theme: understanding.
Empathy is one of the most effective ways to reach an understanding of another human being. It aids in problem-solving and making meaningful connections. Through my experience, I was allowed to reach an understanding of people in need. Though empathy was involved, familiarity also played a big part. Each day, various people came into The Salvation Army in need of assistance in different ways. Whether it was for food, clothing, or help paying rent, to be part of a resource that provides relief and peace of mind to others, and to witness it in action, brings about a sense of hope in ourselves. I believe this was the goal of the course.
My mind welcomed my own relief as Tina gave me a tour of the office, the pantry, and the church, and welcomed me into the food bank family with a hug. I started out with a few hours a week, and found myself eager to shed the feeling of being a stranger among my new, mutually accepted family. At The Salvation Army, we do as much as we can to help by offering the resources that are available in Eugene. I learned about services in town that I can pass on to people I see when I’m walking downtown. Instead of continuing on with a meek apology when a donation is requested, I can offer a bit of my time to provide information of where they can go to ease their hunger, or to seek shelter from freezing temperatures. I can direct others who might need a few days of food before their next paycheck, or who have just received an eviction notice. I will be continuing my volunteer position through the holidays, as The Salvation Army will be providing Christmas boxes for families and individuals alike. Over 200 applications for Christmas boxes have been submitted. I could never have imagined helping this many people on my own. It has shown me that working together through acceptance and understanding provides the best solutions. To play a small part in something bigger and beyond myself has been a special experience for me.
~Megan McNeary