Arthur Groom Starfish Foundation

The Arthur Groom Starfish Foundation has been created to benefit the construction of the new Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC). With ground breaking scheduled for Spring of 2008 the Cancer Center at HUMC is New Jersey’s largest and ranked Best Cancer Center in the state by New York magazine. The Cancer Center focuses on transforming cancer care by offering multidisciplinary care, personalized treatment, innovative research, superior outcomes, and patient satisfaction. The Arthur Groom Starfish Foundation is a 5-year plan with a fundraising mission goal of 2 million dollars.

As an old man walked along the beach in the early morning hours,
he noticed a little girl ahead of him, walking alone along the shoreline

Every so often, she bent down, picked up something and gently tossed it into the ocean.
She repeated this process over and over.

Finally, catching up with the little girl, the old man asked her what she was doing.
She replied, “Throwing starfish into the ocean.”

“I guess I should have asked; why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?”

“The sun is up and the tide is going out and if I don’t throw them in they’ll die.”

“But child, don’t you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it, you can’t possibly make a difference.”

The young girl listened politely, then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves. “It made a difference to that one.”

As we face the overwhelming task to assist the cancer stricken of our community we must remember that each life is precious, each effort important, and that we can make a difference….One life at time.

This story was inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley.