Starfish
“I recently read about an old man, walking the beach at dawn, who noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them into the sea. Catching up with the youth, he asked what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded starfish would die if left in the morning sun. ‘But the beach goes on for miles and miles, and there are millions of starfish,’ countered the man. ‘How can your effort make any difference?’ The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and then threw it to safety in the waves. ‘It makes a difference to this one,’ he said.” (Hugh Duncan)
We are convinced that God can transform Regent Park through individual Christians willing to enter into relationships with others. This is why The Salvation Army 614 launched The Starfish Fund. No one person can change the Park, but one person can certainly make a difference in another’s life.
Starfish mentors are Christians, 18 years of age or older who are willing to spend a minimum of eight hours a month with a young person from Regent Park, one-on-one, to build a mentoring relationship. They act as big brothers/big sisters. Starfish mentors take their pre-teen to movies, McDonalds, swimming - anything. The activities are less important than the consistent commitment of time. Through these one-on-one relationships, we believe that a whole generation is being impacted.
In addition to adults mentoring children in our community, 614 also encourages its members to be in adult-adult mentoring relationships, so that we can learn from one another’s life experience and wisdom.
One Starfish Story…
John and Johnny have participated in the Starfish Fund since is started in 2001. At that time, Johnny was only 6 years old. The now 11-year-old boy comes from a tough home and so the constancy, role modeling and time John spends with him are vital to helping him maintain some focus in his troubled young life.
“Johnny’s a great kid, and yet even at age six he was pretty well written off. He was illiterate, in trouble with the police, frequently restrained and always out of school. But as he’s grown, he’s become calmer, and more polite… if people just take an interest and sacrifice a bit of themselves, things can change in young lives.”
John and Johnny enjoy spending time together, and share a love for movies, video games, swimming, card games, and cooking. They spend most Saturdays together, and treat each other like real brothers.
