FROM THE EDITOR READERS

We are so pleased that many people, like Marie Hinz from North Carolina, have written to say that they enjoyed the first issue of ENGAGE Magazine. “Please be sure to keep my name on the list to receive ENGAGE,” she said. As someone who used to live, work and attend church in Riverside near our LSSSC office, she shared she “likes keeping up on what’s going on in Southern California.”

Thank you for continuing to send your thoughts, comments, and photos. We will publish them as we can. As you see in the three photos displayed from readers, many (including LSSSC staff) sent in photos to share how they visited someone they care about during February’s shut-in awareness advocacy day.

Thank you also for sharing our advertising rate card on page 29 with businesses and organizations you know who want to reach up to 10,000 online and print copy readers. This type of support from like-minded businesses will truly help LSSSC continue to bring you the magazine each quarter.

In this issue, we hope you will enjoy the firsthand account of Pastor Scottie Lloyd describing his personal experience with the nationwide effort to count the unhoused. The insight he shares about making personal contact with those who are without shelter truly highlights what LSSSC has come to know. Each individual has a different reason behind their story. Many, as you will learn, have suffered traumatic events. We believe sharing these stories helps to erase stigma and enforce how impacting just one life has ripple effects in our community that transcend time and generations.

It reminds me of The Tale of The Starfish, a story that many of us have heard before. So impactful, it bears resharing. It all started when…

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm. When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. People watched her with amusement.

She had been doing this for some time when a man approached her and said, “Little girl, why are you doing this? Look at this beach! You can’t save all these starfish. You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied. "Well, I made a difference for that one!”

The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.

How more valuable than a starfish is just one person in each of our communities? Your support, no matter how small or large, for organizations like LSSSC, helps us get that much closer to helping all in So Cal who need it.

Our dream for ENGAGE is to inspire others to join in the worthy work of creating community wellness.

LORI BUTLER, CFRE & THE ENGAGE STAFF