Who We Are

I HAVE COVERED THE WORLD’S MOST DEVASTATING STORIES THROUGHOUT MY CAREER — STORIES OF UNIMAGINABLE HUMAN HARDSHIP AND LOSS.

Soledad and Brad at the 2016 Starfish Gala

There was the father who lost his grip on his little boy in the Indonesian Tsunami and the Japanese fearful of radiation poisoning. I was haunted for years after seeing the homes devastated by Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. I still visit the orphaned children of the Haiti earthquake. I remember the faces of the few survivors I met and push away memories of the thousands who did not. There was so little I could do to help.

Or was there? Those who dedicate themselves to rescue often tell the Starfish Story. When I heard it, it drove its way into my heart.

Countless starfish have washed ashore on a beach and are dying off. A little boy is picking them up and tossing them back into the ocean in the hope they’ll survive. A man walks by and asks him why he’s doing something so futile.

“There are hundreds,” he points out. “What difference will it make?”

The boy picks up another starfish, throws it into the sea and says: “It will make a difference to that one.”

I wanted to make a difference. Maybe this was the way. I had met many young women whose life plans had been stagnated by terrible disasters, compounded by generational poverty — some were just down on their luck. I could help one of them, do my part, and maybe launch a successful young woman into a brighter future. Then they could go off into the world and help others.

Welcome to the Starfish Foundation. I hope you’ll join us.

Soledad O’Brien