Pathstar


"Teamwork makes the dream work" --Pathstar Alcatraz swimmer Elizabeth Best, Colville Confederated Tribes

The Kelly Ann Brown Foundation board met in San Francisco the week of October 13, 2014—we chose that date deliberately. It is Indigenous People’s Day and the date of the 12th annual Pathstar swim.  As a board, we were honored to volunteer and assist in the kitchen for the celebratory meal following the swim and to be there on the dock to cheer on this year’s swimmers. Awards were given and we were surprised to receive one of the two Pathstar Starfish Awards.                   

The story of the starfish is a familiar one. A little girl is on a beach where thousands of starfish have washed up on shore and lay dying in the relentless sun. The girl picks up a starfish and throws it back into the water. She bends down again to repeat her effort. A man walking on the beach sees the hopelessness of the situation and says to the little girl, “You’ll never be able to make a difference, there’s too many.” She pauses for a moment from her work to respond. “It made a difference to that one,” she says, tossing another starfish back to the salvation of the sea.  

The starfish fable is a great reminder that how we look at solutions matters. Do we come at a problem hopeless and with a sigh of “why bother?” Or do we have the wisdom of the little girl on the beach, who knows that caring for one starfish at a time makes all the difference?

Terry Mills, an Oglala Lakota, and six time Alcatraz swim week participant, says it best:                 
"I firmly believe we as people—and I mean all people of all beautiful races—must stand together in each of our individual personal pursuits of a better quality of life. We must not only dream of positive change but we must take action— with every step we take, every challenge we meet, every event we promote, every person that we involve—every individual, group, and community. The key to a healthier future is to keep succeeding in opening one door at a time and to never give up, because this is a never ending process.”

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