Originally told by Loren Eisley, and now paraphrased by me 🙂
One day a man was walking along the beach. He noticed that a storm had washed many starfish ashore, stranding them there.
Then he saw a young boy picking up the starfish, one by one, and throwing them back into the ocean.
As he approached, he asked the boy, “Young man, what are you doing?”
“Throwing starfish back into the ocean,” he stated mater of factly. “The surf is up,” he continued, “and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they will die.”
The man chuckled and said, “Do you realize that there are miles and miles of beach, and hundreds of starfish? You can’t possibly make any difference.”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it as far as he could into the ocean.
Then he turned and smiled at the man, and said, “It made a difference to that one.”
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I love this story!
It is the complete embodiment of our mantra…. we meet people where they are.
Change doesn’t always ROAR. Sometimes it starts with a whisper.. a single act of kindness and love.
Many we serve face overwhelming challenges, poverty, trauma, violence, lack of a support system, the list goes on.
Through mentorship, life skills training, educational support, and safe spaces, we empower each one of them to believe in their own worth.. to re-write their story.. and then become changemakers in their own community.
Each of them is a story worth saving.
Every story matters; every step counts.
We know we can’t save them all, but we will never stop reaching.