Restoration 61

“Initially my thoughts were, ‘Well, why get involved? There are so many victims… how can I really make a difference?’ Then, I remembered a story I heard long ago:

There was a little boy walking down the beach, and he noticed there were thousands of starfish that washed up on the beach. So, he started walking, picking them up one at a time and throwing them back in the ocean. Well, there was an elderly man also walking down the beach and noticed what the young man was doing. So, he walked over and said, ‘Little boy, what are you doing?’ So the boy looked up and said, ‘Well, I’m throwing the starfish back in the ocean so they can live.’ The elderly man said, ‘There are thousands of them… you’ll never be able to make a difference.’ So the little boy just looked at him, then walked over, picked up another starfish and threw it back in the ocean and said, ‘Well, I made a difference for that one.'

It made me realize that although I know I can’t impact all 25,000 of the victims that are sex trafficked, here in Chicago… if I can make a difference in one at a time, it’s just a humbling and rewarding experience.”

-Terry Rafferty, Category Management