As the young man walked on the beach in the early morning hours, he noticed an old man ahead of him, walking along the beach. Every so often, he bent over and picked up something and gently tossed it into the ocean. He repeated this process over and over. Finally, catching up with the old man, the young man saw that he had picked up a starfish, stranded by the tides, and was preparing to throw it back into the ocean. He asked what he was doing and the old man explained that the stranded starfish would die when the morning sun grew hotter. The young man looked down the endless beach. He knew that there were thousands of starfish stranded on this shore on this particular morning. Curious, he asked the old man,"The beach goes on for miles and there are thousands of starfish, so how can your effort make any difference?" The old man looked at the starfish in his hand and then tossed it into the waves. "It makes a difference to this one!"

What does this story mean to you as a Member and /or Volunteer of Little Victories?

You are the old man in the story. You are the one who walks the endless streets, alleyways, busy highways and forests, rescuing animals. And although we cannot save all of them—at least not now!!—at least we can save some of them. We must always remember that life is precious…and as we face the overwhelming task of taking all the homeless animals of the streets in our area, we must never forget that all individual life is important…and that we can make a difference…for this one!

As we work toward our goal and especially when it sometimes seems very hard or even discouraging, always tell yourself and others…we are making a difference every day…in the life of at least one animal. And, finally, some day, we will have accomplished what we set out to do…to save them all, one a t a time.

This is what it means to have each day and each rescue be a ‘little victory.”