Peeks [ Persona ] Marching to War for the Poor December 2006

by Jacqueline Vaughnes-Smith
Images by R. Byrne

Captain Jackie is doing what she can — what she believes she has been called to do — to meet the physical, social, and spiritual needs of East County’s disadvantaged people.

I’m a Captain in the Salvation Army, which is an organization dedicated to fighting for the poor. Our Bell Ringers are one of the most familiar symbols of our holiday season. People hear that tinkling bell and see the Santa figure with his kettle. They have an opportunity to throw a buck — or twenty bucks perhaps — into the kettle as a nearly effortless way of reaching out to the less fortunate who live all around us.

Proceeds from those Christmas kettles represent 70 percent of the budget supporting our after-school drop-in center, community assistance programs, and our gathering, assembling, and distributing to the poor Christmas bags filled with gifts and groceries.

God is apparently our biggest investor because there’s clearly no way, apart from regular miraculous intervention, that we could continue doing what we do merely on the money that we receive. We should have gone out of business years ago but the facility has been here in Antioch for 13 years and not only are we debt-free, we’ve never had an interruption in our program or in our services due to lack of sufficient funds. We always seem to be skating on thin ice, but praise God, the ice never breaks!

My Story
I never planned to join the Salvation Army. I was a career buyer for Macy’s Department Store for the “better” Junior knits and separates. When vendors called I asked them, “What materials do you use?” If they said “polyester” or “acrylic,” I told them to go to other buyers. I insisted upon cotton, wool, and rayon. That’s what the better customers were looking for and that’s all I would buy. And it’s all I would wear myself.

I’ve been in church all my life. When there was a need in the community I was the person who tried to rally the people. “We’ve got to feed these people!” I would say. Or “We’ve got to get clothes for those families!”

I helped the pastor any way I could. “As long as you are up there,” I would tell him “and I stay down here, I’ll do anything you ask. Just don’t ask me to get up there.”

Shortly after I retired from Macy’s, following choir rehearsal one day, God spoke to me as plainly as any human ever did, “You can go now. I have another place for you.” For the next six weeks I kept moving from church to church like a spiritual vagabond each time asking myself, “Is this the one?” None of them was “the one.”

I kept thinking about the Salvation Army because I had visited it four years earlier with my sister, but I never went there because I didn’t know the Salvation Army was a church.

Finally, I really “lost it” emotionally one day as I was driving through Fremont. I had to pull over to the side of the road. I began bawling and beating my hands on the steering wheel.

“You told me to leave,” I shouted at God, “now You’ve got to tell me where to go because I’m not going to keep driving from church to church any longer!”

God spoke to me again, “I told you the Salvation Army.” I had heard Him but I didn’t know what He meant because I still didn’t know it was a church. I looked in the phone book and found a location in nearby Newark. I got there just as they were closing up.

“Don’t close that door!” I shouted as I got out of my car. The girl must have thought I was a crazy person or a drug addict looking for help.

“Do you people have a church here?” I asked.

“They do,” she replied. “But I don’t attend it.”

The girl found Linda Jordan, the officer’s wife. Linda spent the next two hours giving me a tour of the church, showing me the songbook and explaining the teachings of the Salvation Army. That night I started as a volunteer.

Before long the officer asked me to enlist as one of the soldiers.

“Never in a million years will I become a soldier in the Salvation Army,” I answered. “I’ll help you any way I can, but I’ll never wear one of your uniforms!”

The reason for my reluctance was that Salvation Army uniforms are made out of polyester. I didn’t buy polyester when I was a buyer for Macy’s or wear it myself. They were insistent so finally I told them, “If you let me design my own uniform, I’ll join.”

I made some sketches and showed them to the Divisional Commander’s wife. She told me I could make my own uniform but then she added, “When you’re an officer you won’t be able to wear this.”

“Then I’ll never be an officer,” I told her.

She looked at me and just busted up laughing. She was an older woman with a gift of discernment and saw clearly in her mind exactly what was going to happen to me. So now I’m a Captain in the Salvation Army and I’m wearing their polyester uniform.

My job is no sacrifice because I love what I do! I watch lives change for the better. “One life at a time,” is the tagline for our organization, and that’s the way it really is. I’m privileged! It would be a sacrifice for me to do anything else.

Wearing this uniform, however, is the supreme example of me obeying God. I could get a wool uniform, but those things still look ugly, and I can clean a bathroom in polyester. Even though the Salvation Army has officers, soldiers, and volunteers, officers never pull rank or privilege if a toilet gets stopped up. You will get down on your knees and clean that thing out yourself. And you sure don’t want to be wearing wool while you’re doing so!

Also, since I’m the Captain, I’m “up there” in front of the people on Sunday morning where I told my pastor I would never go. I’ve learned the reality that our desires have nothing to do with our destiny.

Life is never easy. I’ve suffered with rheumatoid arthritis since I was 22 years old. During the past three years I’ve undergone two surgeries and for the time being I’m confined to a wheelchair. I came close to dying. Now I’m building up my health in order to get knee replacements.

All my life it seems that I’ve been cruising in high gear and overdrive. For the past few years I’ve had to downshift to third, sometimes even to low gear. My destiny is in His hands, however. I’ve never had depression or misgivings about any of this.

My Church
I belong to a worldwide group of people who are mobilized to serve others in need. The Salvation Army was a church before it became a social service agency. General William Booth founded it in 1865 in England as The Christian Mission. Booth’s church began to exert an international impact on people. He didn’t know how to structure his organization in order to serve his expanding constituency.

People called Booth “The General” because of his take-charge attitude towards life so he decided to start an army in the service of God complete with a command structure and uniforms. The name Salvation Army was added in 1878.

Traditional churches offer community assistance, but such service often happens in spite of the church’s organization. In the Salvation Army, however, the service happens as a natural result of how we are organized.

The Salvation Army is one of the safest organizations to contribute to for people who are concerned about mismanagement of donated funds. A full 88 percent of what we receive goes directly into the community. We’re always one of the top three non-profit organizations in this respect.

We’re careful about our spending because we realize that buying something inhibits our ability in giving something. We’re careful about how we spend so we can keep doing what we do in the community. Our program is carried on the shoulders of committed volunteers. I have only four employees and they’re all underpaid.

Our Services
We conduct a weekly food distribution for needy people. We try to meet the other needs of these people, as well, because anyone who needs help getting food certainly has other problems. You can make a real difference in people’s lives if you understand what’s really going on with them. You have to figure out what their real problem is. That takes time and effort.

We run an after-school drop-in program for children and youth. Vans pick up children who aren’t able to get here on their own. We have kids around this place for most of the day.

When we started our after-school program we learned that some of the children couldn’t read so we mounted a serious literacy campaign. We also have a library. I collect books from everyone I know.

I run a small, unfunded program called PREP (Pregnancy Resourcing and Empowerment Project). I’m helping young pregnant women get their GED and teaching them survival skills such as conflict resolution, budgeting, balancing a checkbook, shopping skills, and preparing nutritious meals. I’m doing this on a one-to-one basis so I have plenty of time to do all those things with each of these precious young women.

Our busiest time is the holidays, of course. We throw an annual Harvest Party on Halloween Night. We have glow-in-the-dark basketball, karaoke, and run board game tournaments and a costume contest. The only thing required is that kids promise not to ask for food from strangers. We don�ft live in those kinds of times any more.

Last year we provided Christmas for 661 needy families, which included more than 4,000 children. We gave each child two new toys plus we provided a holiday food basket for each family with a turkey included. So we must collect and distribute more than 600 turkeys and other food items, plus over 8,000 toys.

We solicit donations from the community for this project. Employees in local companies, for example, sometimes help us with a Giving Tree and do such things as requiring a toy as the cover charge for an office party.

We’re performing an essential service to disadvantaged people. The next time you hear that little tinkling bell and see the kettle, drop in a generous donation and help others less fortunate than yourself to get their share of Christmas cheer and hope.

We’re soldiers “marching as to war” on behalf of the poor. Feel free to join us in taking a potshot at poverty the next time you get a chance to do so. °

You can contact Captain Jackie at The Salvation Army, 525 East 18th Street, Antioch (925-778-0808).