<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Here's a story...</p> <p>After a terrible storm at sea, all the starfish had washed up on the shore where they were drying out and dying under the sun. A man noticed all the dying starfish and one by one, started to&nbsp;throw them back into the sea. A second man noticed what he was doing. He walked up to him and said, "There are far too many starfish! You'll never be able to throw back all of them." But after hearing this, the first man picked a starfish and threw it back into the sea with all his might. He turned and told the second man, "At least I made a difference to that one."</p> <p>Hello, I'm Ian and I have been blessed enough to have grown up with parents that support me in everything I do. But in our world, a lot of children have to grow up without people to guide them, let alone their own parents. They are like the dying starfish washed up on the shore with no hope or opportunity. They grow up to be very vulnerable and&nbsp;are likely&nbsp;to get involved with gangs and drugs.&nbsp;</p> <p>'The Starfish Greathearts Foundation' reaches out to some of the 2.01 million 'AIDS orphans' (children whose parents have been victims from AIDS and are not able or alive to care for them) in South Africa, to give them a good education, counselling and social grants so that they might grow up and have an impact on society. Otherwise they will simply be a lost generation.</p> <p>With my South African heritage, I really want to make a difference to the orphan children of South Africa. I have now run my 11 mile route around Cambridge with success! I also made it to the top of Table Mountain in Cape Town during the first week of the Easter vacation. In the spirit of this Olympic year, instead of a torch, throughout my runs and treks, I carried a starfish.</p> <p>I also visited Ethembeni in Mpophomeni, KwaZulu-Natal which is a 'family center', designed to give food everyday to seventy children as they go to and from school. The center also has five computers for educating the older students, and a playground area where the children that attend can feel safe talk and play. The center was established as a means of caring for children that were living on their own or not being looked after by parents. They also supply them with equipment for school and hygiene at home as well as counselling and psychosocial help if needed. After looking around the very well built and kept center, we made about 125 polony sandwiches for the children to take home for dinner. Then, all the children which were there at the time gathered into on of the main rooms and started singing and dancing along with my aunt and her guitar as she sang some, mostly Zulu, church songs. Their smiles and instinct to sing, which is typical of their culture was really inspiring and shows the real change that can happen with your support! Thank you so much for all of your donations that make things like this possible! My site is open until late June so pray for more donations to come and please spread my website to friends to share my cause. Please feel free to check out my photos and videos from the trip.</p> <p>If you would like to support me in this, please pick up your starfish and donate now.</p> <p>Thank you,</p> <p>Ian Stephenson</p> <p>Visit <a href="http://www.starfishcharity.org">www.starfishcharity.org</a> for more info.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p>