Once upon a time, there was a wise man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore and as he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day, so he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man. The young man wasn’t dancing. He was reaching down to the sand, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.

As the wise man got closer he called out, “Good morning. What are you doing?”
The young man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I guess I should have asked why you are throwing starfish into the ocean?”
said the wise man.

“Because the sun is up, the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them back in they’ll die.”

“But, young man,” said the wise man, “don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along the way? You can’t possibly make a difference.”

The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, safely past the breaking waves and said, “I made a difference to that one.”

We will make a difference to the children
and for the children.