It Made a Difference to Mellow
By Anne Senft
On August 17, tens of thousands of animals found their forever families as a result of Clear the Shelters adoption events across the nation.
The Humane Society of Loudoun County adopted out one of our young cats that day. His name was Mellow.
After weeks of preparing for the event, you can imagine how heartbroken we were that more of our wonderful animals didn’t find their forever homes that day—including our celebrity kitties, Margo and Mr. Meow Meow.
To help me bounce back personally, I headed to my favorite yoga studio where the instructor told us a story. While it was a story I had heard many times before, the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.
THE STARFISH Story
by Loren Eiseley
One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed a boy picking up and gently throwing things into the ocean.
Approaching the boy he asked: “Young man, what are you doing?”
The boy 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.”
The man laughed to himself and said, “Do you realize there are miles and miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish? You can’t make any difference.”
After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the surf. Then smiling at the man, he said: “I made a difference to that one.”
Mellow was that lucky starfish who got his second chance on August 17. I happened to be nearby when the teenage daughter let the foster mom know that her family was adopting Mellow.
I wish I could capture in words the pure joy I saw on the foster’s face. She was so relieved that Mellow was going to a loving home. She gave the daughter a big hug. What a wonderful addition to the family Mellow would make.
HSLC doesn’t have a physical shelter. We rely heavily on a network of dedicated foster moms and dads to provide our at-risk animals the safe haven they need while waiting for their forever families. We are so thankful to them along with our caring volunteers and generous donors who make it possible to provide the second chances these animals deserve.
Adoption events like Clear the Shelters wouldn’t be possible without our wonderful fosters, volunteers and donors.
One day isn’t going to keep us down. Together with your help, we will continue to fight—day after day—for the abused, neglected and abandoned animals who are counting on us to rescue them.
Because, after all, there are still a lot of starfish we must save.