National Association of the Deaf

Submitted by Erin.Esposito on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 13:38

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.” (Story Source) 

Such as with the starfish story, people often feel that doing one thing doesn’t make a difference. The truth is, as the young boy demonstrated, it does make a difference.

Countless non-profit organizations are able to make huge strides in their work as a result of small donations made by many people. President Obama won his grassroots campaign not with the elite donors but with the small donations made by countless Americans.

Per the story run by the Washington Post, this is a brief summary of the Obama Campaign online operations stats:
- 3 million online donors
- 6.5 million online donations adding up to more than $500 million.
- Of the 6.5 million donations, 6 million were in amounts of $100 or less.

President Bill Clinton, in his book “Giving,”  identifies reasons why people give or don’t give:

Reasons people give

• Because we think it will help people today or give our children a better future;
• Because we feel morally obligated to do so out of religious or ethical convictions;
• Because someone we know and respect asked us; or
• Because we find it more rewarding and more enjoyable than spending more money on material possessions or more time on recreation or work.

Reasons people don’t give

• They don’t believe what they could do would make a difference, either because their resources are limited or they’re convinced efforts to change other people’s lives and conditions are futile.
• They don’t feel morally obligated to give. No one has ever asked them to do so.
• And they believe they’ll enjoy life more if they keep their money and time for themselves and their families

I give because I have been on the receiving end of financial support through the means of academic scholarships and have greatly benefitted from countless non-profit organizations that do work in certain causes close to my heart.

Giving back is something I do freely and without obligation because I am grateful for the services of the NAD, among other non-profit organizations, in their work to advocate on behalf of the deaf and hard of hearing communities.

I strongly urge you to give.  

No matter how small or insignificant it may be - give back. It will make all the difference in the world.

Be the change you wish to see in the world. –Mohandas Gandhi