about
The Throwing Starfish Foundation is a volunteer-run nonprofit organization. It was born from the idea that individuals can work together to effect change in their communities. In 2015, before forming our 501c3, we started a community project for local foster kids. The project was organized to create Comfort Bags, which are duffel bags full of comfort items for children entering foster care. When a child enters foster care he or she usually receives only plastic garbage bags in which to carry their belongings. Our community of friends and neighbors came together, year after year, to create hundreds of Comfort Bags for our local foster kids. The bags included items such as books, a blanket, toothbrush/toothpaste, a hairbrush, coloring books, crayons, water bottles, stuffed animals, and warm gloves. Every year our Comfort Bags project brought in donations of money, items, and time from countless individuals. We were excited by the success of this project, and by our community's willingness to contribute.
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We formed a nonprofit so that we could do even more good for the most vulnerable in our community. We have been overwhelmed by what we have been able to accomplish in the short time we have been a 501c3. Visit our One Year of Throwing Starfish page to learn more about the projects we have taken on. We assembled and distributed Comfort Bags, Welcome Home Kits, Apartment Kits, Cold Weather Kits, Hygiene Kits, and bikes. We've helped 100's of Camp Fire survivors, prepared meals for 100's of homeless women and children, helped fund a mobility chair for a child with SMA, and more. And we are just getting started.
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We'd love to have you along for the ride. Reach out, donate, volunteer, or share your ideas for how to make a difference.
the Starfish Story
(where our name comes from)
One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
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Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir."
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The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”
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The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”