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May 14, 2002
Vyvyenne Ritchie is director of Downeast Health
Services Inc. in Ellsworth, which hosts a remarkable
number of human service agencies.
STAFF PHOTO BY JOHN HUBBARD |
ELLSWORTH—Vyvyenne
Ritchie’s laptop computer screen glowed in the dim
afternoon light that streamed through blinds on her
windows. She punched a key and the printer beside her
laptop sprang to life with the following:
A young man was walking along the beach one morning, when
he saw an old man picking up something and throwing it out
into the ocean. Curious, the young man asked the old man
what he was doing.
“I’m a star thrower!” he said. “Do you see all these
starfish that washed up on the shore during last night’s
storm? I’m saving them by throwing them back in the sea so
they won’t die.”
The young man looked around and saw so many starfish on
the beach. “But there must be hundreds of them. You’ll
never make a difference,” he told the old man.
“The old man quietly reached down, picked up another
starfish, threw it out into the ocean, and said, “I made a
difference to that one.” (Author Loren Eisley)
Volunteers are the backbone of the Big Brothers Big
Sisters Program, Sexual Assault Services, Healthy
Community Coalition, Hancock County Children’s Council and
Dental Access Coalition. If there were no volunteers these
programs would not exist. Ritchie says thank you to all
those star throwers.
Ritchie is director of Downeast Health Services Inc., the
agency in charge of those listed above, and others,
including Parents Are Teachers, Too; Maternal Child
Health, Adolescent Pregnancy and Parenting Program; Home
Health; Family Life Education; Family Planning; and
Downeast Sexual Assault Services.
The many programs that fall under the umbrella of Downeast
Health Services each benefit from volunteer efforts, as do
many social service programs in Hancock County.
For information about these programs, call 1-800-492-5550
in Ellsworth; 1-800-924-2628 in Calais; 1-800-313-1223 in
Machias.
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