The hurricane had passed. It was early morning. An old man walked the beach surveying the damage. Debris littered the shore.

Among the beached boats, branches, seaweed and wind-strewn pieces of people’s homes were starfish—lots of them—and a young boy.

The old man watched the boy bend down, pick up one of the starfish and gently throw it into the sea. As the old man drew closer, he called out, “Good morning! May I ask what you’re doing?”

The boy picked up another starfish and answered, “Throwing starfish into the ocean. The storm washed them up, and they can’t get home by themselves. When the sun rises, they’ll die if I don’t put them back in the water.” With that, he tossed the starfish into the outgoing tide.

“Son,” the man replied, “there are thousands of starfish and miles of beach. I’m afraid you won’t be able to make much of a difference.”

The boy bent down, picked up a starfish and threw it into the surf. He smiled and said to the old man, “I made a difference to that one.”

It’s an old story adapted from The Star Thrower by Loren Eiseley. Preachers and motivational speakers have been telling versions of the modern parable for decades, often accompanied by a quote from Mother Teresa, “Not all of us can do great things, but we can do small things with great love.”

Today, the starfish story is being told again, on the Dorian-devastated shores of a small island in the Bahamas called Grand Cay. But instead of a fictional tale of an old man, a young boy, and thousands of starfish, the story features the real-life actions of “the boat guy,” “the food guy,” “the clothes guy,” “the water guy,” and a small fishing community of 383 people.

Tom Oyler is “the boat guy.” He’s the owner of The Old Fish House on the coast of Grant. Tom has been fishing the waters surrounding Grand Cay since the late ’70s.

“It’s an island that nobody is going to pay attention to,” Oyler explained, “because it’s only got 380 people and it’s not a wealthy island, there’s no tourism.” But Oyler is paying attention to this mile-long “dot on a map.” He’s hand-delivering donated supplies to Grand Cay by boat.That’s where “the food guy” and “the clothes guy” enter the story: Deacon John Clark of St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Titusville and Deacon Jim Flood from St. Jude’s Episcopal Church in Orange City.

Just days after Dorian left the Bahamas in ruins, Clark’s ministry, No One Hungry, had prepared over 16,000 emergency meals to be sent to the islands.

Flood recalled how he got involved, “I follow Bishop Brewer on Instagram, and I saw a post soon after the hurricane that featured Deacon John Clark with food boxes he was sending to the Bahamas.” Clark had collected clothing, so he arranged to send the clothes along with the food to the Bahamas. “We shipped over 25 bags of clothing that we managed to cram into five large shipping boxes,” Flood explained. “It was awesome to hear of all the people from our diocese that have responded to help the people in the Bahamas. This is truly God at work.” he added.

The deacons and Oyler have also teamed up with Joe Hurston, “the water guy,” from Air Mobile Ministries to deliver Air Mobile Rescuer battery-powered, portable water purification systems. Two of the $2,500 units have landed in Grand Cay.

While Hurston has placed 20 water machines throughout the Bahamas, Clark explained that his relief effort is now focused on working with Oyler to help make a big impact in the small community of Grand Cay, “Tom is getting together building supplies to take over on a barge, and we’ll keep working on food and clothing.”

Clark stated that, to the best of his knowledge, government agencies or the Red Cross have yet to make it to Grand Cay.

For now, the island is their starfish.

Donations can be directed to No One Hungry, Air Mobile Ministries, and Tom Oyler at The Old Fish House (gift cards from Lowe’s and Home Depot are welcome).

Anyone wanting to make a financial contribution through the Diocese of Central Florida may donate in any of these three ways:

• Text “DCF Bahamas” to 73256
• Online via credit card, click here to this secure page
• Check made payable to “Diocese of Central Florida,” Memo Line: “Hurricane Relief,” Mail to: Diocese of Central Florida, 1017 E. Robinson St., Orlando, FL 32801

 

Thank you to Patrick Welter for your coverage of Tom Oyler’s support of Grand Cay. We share your appreciation. [See Patrick Welter’s interview of Tom Oyler here.