Why the Starfish Project?
The Starfish Project gets its name from an essay by Loren Eiseley, “The Star Thrower,” published in 1969 in The Unexpected Universe. Here is an adaptation of Eiseley’s story
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.
Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”
The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean. The surf is up and the tide is going out If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”
“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make a difference!”
After listening politely. The boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and threw it back into the surf. Then smiling at the man he said, “I made a difference for that one.”
Stan and Val’s Story
For Stan and Valerie Rust, the journey of addiction recovery is personal. After witnessing the hard road of addiction and feeling the same helpless, hopeless feelings so many other parents and loved ones have felt, they wanted to do something to enable more individuals with life-controlling problems such as drug and alcohol addiction to participate in programs that could help them recover.
Every individual matters, and every life counts. Stan and Val are here to help you and your loved ones navigate the road to recovery.