Jordan Gerard/Winonan
Three Winona State University graduate students set off on a road trip to help non-profit organizations in the most impoverished places in the United States, and it all started with a text message, “I have this crazy idea for something we should do this summer.”
Spencer Hartz, Wiley Koehler and Kai Hovden’s goal in each place they traveled was to get involved with struggling non-profit groups and help them become more recognized.
Hartz originally got the idea from his mom, who goes on mission trips.
He asked her, “How do you deal with helping out this group of people but not being able to help the rest of them?” She told him the story of the starfish parable.
The starfish parable is about a little boy who threw starfish back into the ocean, but there were thousands of them.
An elderly man was skeptical of the boy’s efforts, but the boy picked up another starfish and simply said, “It will matter to this one.” Hence, where they got their name: The Starfish Project.
More inspiration came from “The Buried Life” on MTV. The hosts cross off things on their bucket list and then turn around and help total strangers complete items on their bucket lists.
The men kicked off their journey in Milwaukee on July 4, supplied with GIVE t-shirts; the GIVE Shirt organization sells t-shirts printed with the word “GIVE” and the proceeds go to charities of the buyer’s choice.
Their first stop was one of the most impoverished places in the U.S., Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Pine Ridge, S.D.
“You think something bad might happen to you out there, but when you get there you meet the average person, and they’re just like you. They want to play basketball or ask a girl out,” Hovden said.
The most valuable lesson they learned throughout all of their trips was breaking the stereotype image, Hovden said.
“You can’t visit a place like Pine Ridge or L.A. and meet the people there and still have prejudice against them. If you go there and talk to the people and make relationships, you’re there doing it, you’re not just reading about it. There’s no way you won’t think about it differently.” he said.
Another notable stop was Breckenridge Outdoor Education Center in Breckenridge, Colo.
This center helps people with disabilities realize that they still have personal freedom.
Hovden met a young man whose story hit home.
He was a law school student and ran cross-country like Hovden, but he was in a car accident and sustained brain damage.
“By coming to Breckinridge he learned how to walk again and do things for himself. It was super emotional for all of us to hear about how one moment changed his life,” Hovden said.
Another stop was at the Equality House in Topeka, Kan. The Equality House is painted in the colors of the pride flag as a visual reminder of citizen’s commitment to equality for all.
The Westboro Baptist Church, a religious group known for their picketing at military funerals and their distaste for the LGBTQ community, is directly across from the Equality House.
This didn’t bother the men though; they got to see both sides.
After their interview with the Equality House, they got the number of the Public Relations worker for Westboro Baptist Church.
When Hovden called the man’s cell phone, he knew they were sitting outside in the van, Hovden said.
Hovden went up to the door of the church and it opened even before he knocked. He asked if they could come to their service.
“They talked it over and told us, ‘You can come, but you have to sit in the back and if you say anything, you are out.’ It was a crazy experience,” Hovden said.
After a month of traveling around the country through plains, deserts and bayous, they returned home on August 6.
To learn more about The Starfish Project, visit their Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages or www.thestarfishproject.net.
Contact Jordan at [email protected]
