You probably have heard or read a story about the The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley (1907-1977). It goes pretty much like this:
Once upon a time, there was an old man walking along the shore. He came upon a young man along the shore, reaching down, picking up starfish, and throwing it into the ocean.
The old man said: "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?" The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" asked the somewhat startled old man.
To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."
Upon hearing this, the old man commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the water, he said, "It made a difference for that one."
We all know that you would like to help every now and then, but there are so many problems and so many people that may need your help. You feel overwhelmed and think that you are just one person, you couldn't have made any difference. However, remember, just like the young man, he wasn't concerned about making a difference to ALL starfish, he only tried to make a difference to one starfish, one at a time.
As of March 2012 there are 1,218.269 Rotarians in 34,196 clubs in 196 countries, together, we can make a lot of difference. If you would like to visit a Rotary Club, join us for lunch and see what we do in Saginaw, please contact Todd Hart at (989) 860-8843 to make arrangement. Remember, if not now, when? if not you then who?