Help a Starfish

By Jared Smith

The legend is well known.  It is raining on the English Channel, the tides are at four year lows.  A young man running along the channel notices an elderly woman carefully picking up starfish one by one, gently tossing them into the ocean.  A glance around his surroundings quickly proves to the young man that this is an exercise in futility.  There are millions and millions of dying starfish on the beach.  “Is that really going to make a difference?” he asks.  Stooping down to pick up another one, the woman throws it into the ocean, points and says, “I think it made a difference to that one!”

As a business owner, it is often easy to lose site of this little lesson.  Incite Solutions Inc. is currently working with a number of non-profit organizations such as the Winnifred Stewart Association, the Centre for Family Literacy, the Oliver School Centre for Children, CAREERS: the Next Generation, and the Alberta Centre for International Education.  Two hours on a busy afternoon spent with any one of these organizations is all it takes to realize how rewarding it can be to help a starfish.