Once there was a boy walking on the beach by the ocean. Every once in a while, he’d stoop down, pick up a starfish and throw it into the sea because a starfish dropped on dry land by the receding tide will die before the tide comes back in.

An old man watched the boy for a while then spoke. “You know that isn’t going to make any difference. There’s too many starfish washed up on the beach, and every time the tide comes in, it drops off new ones.”

The boy was silent as he thought on the old man’s words. Then he reached down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean.

“It made a difference for that one,” he said.

That oft-repeated story is almost surely allegorical — somebody made it up to make a point — but it’s a point that resonates in Moultrie and Colquitt County.

Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The mission has taken several forms over that half-century, finding different ways to provide housing, food and other essentials to people in need. 

The current incarnation serves both spiritual and physical needs of up to 16 men as they work on a six-month program of self-improvement. Volunteers provide Christian mentoring. The men attend Bible studies and addiction counseling, if needed. The mission helps them to get jobs and provides opportunities to volunteer in the community.

The mission serves men at a low point in their lives. Many have problems with drugs or alcohol. Most have recently been released from jail or prison. Crossroads interviews prospective clients to determine if they really want to change their lives and are willing to work through the program. 

“Some of them are looking for something far different than what they get at Crossroads,” Director Caleb Davis told The Observer in 2019.

At best, Crossroads can help 32 men each year climb out of the bad spot that they’re in. That’s if nobody back-slides and nobody gives up. Compared to the number of inmates at the county’s overcrowded jail, 32 men per year is trivial.

Unless you’re one of those 32 men.

Seeing the success of Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission, a local group is raising funds to build Crossroads for Her, a similar program to serve women. A wonderful tribute concert Saturday night was sold out; all proceeds after expenses will benefit Crossroads for Her. If the steering committee can hit fundraising goals, it will break ground on a building this spring and hopes to have it finished by the end of the year. Committee members will be developing the program, based on what’s already working for the men at Crossroads but tweaked for a female clientele. Co-chair Linda Berl said the committee expects all the pieces to come together in early 2023 and to start accepting clients then.

Initial plans for the building will enable Crossroads for Her to serve 12 women at a time. Assuming a six-month program like at the existing Crossroads Mission, that would be at most 24 women per year — again, if no one back-slides and no one gives up. Compared to the number of incarcerated or homeless women in the community, 24 women per year is trivial.

Unless you’re one of those 24 women.

Similar statements could be made about Serenity House, the county’s domestic violence shelter, or Hope House, the pregnancy support center, or the Pathway Outreach Soup Kitchen, or the Colquitt County Food Bank. Compared to the need for their services, their capacity is small, even trivial.

Unless you’re the domestic violence victim who finds her way out, or the unwed mother who is able to bring a new life into the world, or the person who can eat tonight when otherwise he couldn’t.

Because of their small reach, these local charities won’t change the world — unless you’re one of the individuals for whom they do.

If you’re willing to help them in their missions, you can reach Crossroads Gospel Rescue Mission at (229) 985-7194; Crossroads for Her at crossroads4her@gmail.com; Serenity House at (229) 782-5394; Hope House at (229) 985-4673; Pathway Outreach Soup Kitchen at (229) 873-5740; and the Colquitt County Food Bank at (229) 985-7725.