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OUR
PHILOSOPHY
The Starfish Story:
One summer's day a little
girl was walking on a long, winding beach. She came across a
starfish that had been washed ashore and was now wriggling and
drying up quickly in the hot sun. She reached down, gently picked up
the starfish by one of its five points, and tossed it back to the
sea. The little girl smiled and continued walking along the beach.
But after a few steps, she found another starfish. It too was dying
in the sun. No sooner had she tossed this one back when she came
across another starfish. And then another one. She tossed each one
back.
She reached the top of a dune and came to a
sudden stop. What she saw below startled and amazed her. Stretching
out in front of her were hundreds upon hundreds- possibly thousands
upon thousands - of dying starfish washed up on the beach. Suddenly,
she exploded into action and to toss as many starfish as possible,
one by one, back to the sea.
She was so busy tossing back the starfish, that
she never noticed that a person had stopped to watch her. Soon a
whole crowd had gathered. They were all pointing at the little girl
and laughing. "That little girl's crazy," said one. "I know," said
another, "doesn't she know that every summer thousands of starfish
get washed up on the beach and die? It's just the way things are."
"There are so many starfish. She couldn't possibly make a
difference."
The little girl was still too busy tossing back
starfish to notice them. Finally, one man decided he had seen
enough. He walked over to the little girl. "Little girl," he said,
"there are thousands of starfish washed up on the beach, you can't
possibly hope to make a difference. Why don't you give up and go
play on the beach with the other children?" The little girl's smile
suddenly vanished. She saw the crowd of people for the first time,
and realized they had all been laughing at her. Now they had fallen
silent, awaiting her answer to the man's question.
She was hot. She was tired and close to tears.
She began to think that maybe he was right- maybe they were all
right. She had been tossing back starfish for what seemed like
hours, and a carpet of starfish still covered the beach. How could
she have possibly thought she could make a difference? Her arms fell
limp at her sides, and the starfish she was holding fell back to the
hot sand. She started to walk away.
Suddenly she stopped, turned around, reached
back down and picked up the starfish she had dropped. She swung back
her arm and tossed the starfish as far as she possibly could. When
it landed with a plop, she turned to her questioner, and with a huge
smile on her face she said: "I made a difference to that one!"
Inspired, a little boy emerged from the crowd,
picked up a starfish and sent it soaring back to the sea. "And I
made a difference to that one!" he said. One by one every member of
the crowd joined in sending drying starfish back to the sea, calling
"I made a difference to that one" with each toss.
Soon the voices began to
quiet down, and the little girl wondered if people were getting
tired or discouraged. And then she looked across the beach and what
she saw startled and amazed her: All the starfish were gone.
THIS IS THE FRIENDSHIP
PROJECTS PHILOSOPHY TOO!!!
WE CAN'T CHANGE THE WORLD BUT
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN A CHILD'S LIFE
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