I Saved That One
- Maria Barone
- Apr 21, 2016
- 3 min read
A man was taking his usual morning walk along the beach one day after a storm. Thousands of starfish had been stranded on the shore. As he walked further, the man saw a figure in the distance. When he got closer he saw a little boy picking up starfish, and, one by one, throwing them back into the water.
He went up to the boy and said, “What are you doing?”
The little boy responded, “I’m trying to save the starfish. The tide is out and the sun is so hot it will kill them.”
The man then said, “But there are miles and miles of beach with starfish all over them. You’ll never be able to save them all.”
The little boy listened to the man, but then reached down, picked up another starfish, threw it in the water and said, “I saved that one.”
Every person is worth it. Every person can make a change. A lot of times we sit at home and think we cannot make a difference to anyone who needs our help. We think that in order to change someone’s life we need to fly to a third world country and build a house or set up a medical clinic. We forget that we can help those in need without traveling thousands of miles.
This past Thursday, our Edge program went to Feed My Starving Children in Mesa, AZ. Feed My Starving Children is an organization whose mission is to feed the poor and hungry all over the world. Volunteers go to their different locations in the US and help to package special meals formulated to fight malnutrition. We brought about 75 people with us to the location in Mesa and packaged 23,760 meals, which were sent to feed starving children in the Philippines. That means a total of 65 children will have something to eat for an entire year!
Now, statistics show that there are around 700 million people in the world who are malnourished and suffering from hunger. So looking at that number and then hearing we helped 65 children doesn’t even seem like a dent in the scheme of things. Here’s the thing, every human being in this world matters. Each person has his or her own human dignity, so even if we only helped 1 of those 700 million people, we made a world of a difference to that one person. Never be discouraged by the numbers. In Matthew 19:26 Jesus says, “for human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Every person is another person helped, and each one of them are important.
So how can YOU help?
There are plenty of volunteer opportunities in our own backyard! Feed My Starving Children is just one of many awesome non-profit organizations that help tend to those in need. Grab some friends one Saturday or one weekday night and check out all these awesome service opportunities right near you!
Here’s one happening this weekend!
THIS SATURDAY April 23rd
from 8:15am-12:00pm
At St. Vincent DePaul
420 W Watkins Rd
Phoenix AZ 85003
Want to join? Email Lita or Maria for a mandatory volunteer form!
Can’t come? Check these places out!
About the Author
Maria Barone
I’m just your typical Italian-American, Buffalo-born, puppy-lovin’, adventure seeking, Catholic girl that actually isn’t that typical. I’m always ready to travel the world and learn new things while staying true to myself, my roots, and my faith. If you wanna see just how crazy I am go ahead and follow me on instagram @ria21993 or on Pinterest at ria223!
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