EUGENE, Ore. – Bushnell University's most important annual tradition returned with the 2021 Embrace The Community Day on September 21.
On this particular day, all Bushnell classes are canceled in the afternoon, giving every student, faculty, and staff member the opportunity to participate. Over 300 students, faculty, and staff participated and over 25 different organizations were served. Every Beacon athletic team participated in the event at one of the various non-profit organizations, putting in a total of over 475 hours of community service.
ETC Day provides a signature moment for Bushnell Athletes live out the mission of being holistic student-athletes who strive to be more than just athletes. Associate Athletic Director Sarah Freeman said, “Our athletic department holds high regard for our 'Tri-Athlete Model' which reflects our mission to develop the whole student-athlete during their time at Bushnell, equally focusing on athletics, academics and character, all in a Christ-centered manner. ETC Day is one opportunity for us to connect with and bless those who are continuously blessing the community and grow in service as champions of character."
The variety of opportunities is one of the things that make Bushnell’s Embrace The City program so meaningful.
"Through the lens of wisdom, faith, and service, our goal is to connect our students with service opportunities and organizations that can turn into long standing relationships," said Freeman. "While ETC day is just one day we hope it inspires a spirit of service and community engagement that will be deeply rooted in our student-athletes and how we as Beacons live our lives."
A Bushnell tradition that has been taking place for more than ten years, ETC Day actually has its origins within Beacon Athletics. Former women’s soccer student-athlete Britni Deliso created the event in 2010 when she was a junior on the student leadership team. Born out of a desire to spark interest in students to serve in the community, ETC day was developed to help students discover new passions in partnering with humanitarian work happening locally, as well as to help promote the school within the community. Deliso said, “I recognized that taking the initiative to cold-call a local organization to find out how to become a volunteer might be a barrier, so I wanted to create an on-ramp for students to establish relationships with non-profits. Our second goal was to answer the question of ‘If NCU were not to exist tomorrow, would we be missed?’ with a resounding ‘Yes!’”
Eleven years later, the event is going stronger than ever both as part of Bushnell’s focus on Wisdom, Faith, and Service, and as part of athletics’ on-going Champion of Character service efforts. “I certainly didn’t anticipate the event becoming such a foundational tradition for the school, being promoted as one of the primary outlets for the ‘service’ pillar,” said Deliso. “It is so uplifting to see how the staff, faculty, and students have continued to prioritize serving our community in this way.”
For nearly 250 student-athletes to be participating with their teams, Deliso is especially grateful. She said, “When I was a student, the leadership teams were working hard to ensure that student-athletes were well integrated into the rest of the student body. I love seeing student-athletes who are now standing up to model service and give back in such an exemplary way! I am also a firm believer in the use of serving together as a really effective way to promote team bonding, so I am thrilled to see coaches and athletic leadership continuing to use ETC Day as a chance for student-athletes to strengthen their connections as teammates.”
Deliso currently works as a Behavioral Health Strategist for PacificSource, supporting many of the healthcare providers and social service agencies that were among the first to be served for ETC Day.
The legacy created by Deliso and others, continues with current opportunities that include work with agencies such as St. Vincent De Paul, Looking Glass, Hosea Youth Services, and Hope Ranch Ministries among others.
This year's slate of team projects included:
Catholic Community Services in Springfield (Men’s Golf)
The men’s golf team provided help with yardwork for Catholic Community Services at a home in Springfield.
FOOD For Lane County's Grassroots Garden (Women’s Soccer)
Instead of the traditional vegetable harvesting work, the women’s soccer team assisted with building paths and new beds for the fall harvest.
FOOD For Lane County’s Springfield Youth Farm (Esports)
The Esports team spent their afternoon picking tomatillos and bush beans. Junior Priscilla Kennedy was grateful for the opportunity. She said, “We were able to help start the final harvest of the tomatillos and clean up ones that had been spoiled by the rain. It was an interesting thing to be putting vegetables into a box and knowing that it would be helping to feed a hungry family. I grew up on low income and food banks or food stamps provided our food many times. Helping provide food security for a kid like I was makes you think about what is really important.”
Hope Ranch Ministries (Women’s Cross Country & Track)
Yardwork and painting were the order of the day for the Beacon harriers, a safe haven home for survivors of human trafficking and sexual exploitation in Lane County.
Hosea Youth Services (Women’s Basketball)
The women’s basketball team was tasked with assorted cleaning, organizing and sanitizing projects for Hosea Youth Services, which serves homeless and at-risk teens in Lane County.
Hendricks Park (Softball)
The softball team spent time at the stunning Hendricks Park just two miles from campus, helping to clear and mulch a pathway and prune blackberry bushes.
Looking Glass (Baseball)
In their inaugural service project, the brand new Bushnell baseball team assisted with painting and cleaning projects at the New Roads School, which serves runaway and homeless youth.
St. Vincent De Paul's First Place Family Center (Men’s Cross Country/Women’s Golf)
The homeless shelter in South Eugene, which features 22 fully-walled and private rooms in its dormitory and additional pallet shelters outside, needed help organizing donations, and it was help the men’s cross country and women’s golf teams were happy to provide.
Native Plant Nursery at Alton Baker Park (Volleyball)
The work done at the Alton Baker Native Plant Nursery protects and enhances the diversity of native plant communities within the City of Eugene natural areas and restoration sites by producing genetically local native plant material. The indoor and beach volleyball teams helped with general gardening and weeding.
St. Vincent De Paul Annex (Men’s Soccer)
Work on this project included cleaning, touching up, and painting walls, organizing donations, and cleaning. Junior Preston Ferry said, “This project was very gratifying and we would have happily stayed and done more had time allowed.”
Petersen Barn (Men’s Track & Field)
Men’s Track & Field was also able to mulch a trail, working at Petersen Barn, which is a social services outlet in the bethel area of Eugene.
Luper Pioneer Cemetery (Men’s Basketball)
Cleanup efforts at the cemetery, which is the final resting place for school namesake James Bushnell, included picking weeds, chopping branches and pruning bushes. Freshman Luke Smith said, “It was great to help out at the cemetery where one of the founders of our school is buried! I think this was very important because we were able to help the cemetery look visibly better than what it was before we got there.”