WOW!!! What a blessed event!! On Tuesday, March 23rd we held our 1st Annual fundraising event at Palencia Golf and Country Club. We had 91 golfers from as far away as Indiana join us for a fun day of golf, fellowship, and fundraising. Our Lord provided a glorious sunny day and the Palencia family were incredibly accomodating hosts as the golfers hit the links. The golfers were given the opportunity to buy "mulligans" to improve their chances of winning along with the opportunity to win golf balls and even the chance to win a 2010 Acura TL on the par 3 12th hole. Thanks to Acura of Orange Park for the Acura. No one won the car but Luke Stephens from Way Radio came the closest at 4 feet. The winning team of John Albritton, Ken Stout, Maurice Samples, and Joe Samples won the event with a score of 107. CONGRATS guys!!!
A silent auction was held in conjunction with the dinner with items ranging from local artwork, numerous golf certificates from local courses, Boo Weekley items, to a pair of round trip airline tickets from Jet Blue. The auction was a tremendous success and we would like to thank all our donors. THANKS!!!
Thanks again to all our sponsors, donors, participants, and our Palencia hosts for making our 1st annual event such a huge success and more importantly thanks to our Lord for HIS blessing. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!!!!
On Monday, December 21st, we delivered 2400 presents for 123 children who were to be confined in Wolfson Children's Hospital on Christmas Day. Approximately twenty individuals from Christ's Starfish Foundation, Pepsi, Gump's Photography, and Wolfson Children's Hospital unloaded 123 stuffed bags of presents to brighten a hurting child's Christmas Day and encourage their families. The presents mean a lot to these children (remember Christmas Day as a child), but our greater call is to share the love of Christ with these families. At a time when perhaps they were questioning God, our prayer is that these families saw Christ's love for them through these gifts that HE sent their child's way.
This year we were literally "blown away" with the number of lives our Lord touched and encouraged to partner with us in this year's Christmas Present Project. We had hundreds of individuals from all walks of life join us this year. We had eight churches, numerous businesses and organizations, and individuals provide presents. We had 56 cash donations as well. In addition, the Ocala, Florida area provided approximately 1,000 presents for 60 children in the hospital Christmas Day at Shand's Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. Riley Woods did a wonderful job coordinating the "team" in Ocala. To everyone in Ocala - thank you. God Bless.
As we continue our journey of obedience to assist these children and the families of children with non-cancer illnesses in Jacksonville, Gainesville, and Pensacola, our prayer is that our Lord will continue to use us to do HIS work. If you feel God leading you to become a partner, please go to our "contact us" page for information on how to reach us. To everyone that answered God's call this year, thank you and please continue to seek our lord's guidance in future work together.
We received the following letter from Pat Kirkland, Director of Child Life Specialists, Wolfson Children's Hospital:
Dear Carldon and Friends at Christ's Starfish Foundation,
WOW- what another incredible Christmas you provided for our patients at Wolfson Children's Hospital! On behalf of the patients and families, I would like to extend sincere, heartfelt thanks. Being in the hospital can sometimes be difficult for kids and families, especially around the holidays. Because of you and everyone involved in the Christmas project, a LOT of Christmas cheer was delivered to our patients and smiles were lighting up the rooms. In addition to helping make Christmas a little more normal by having a bounty of gifts to open, the toys will give kids something to get their minds off procedures, treatments, and being in the hospital. The addition of gifts for the NICU was awesome! By having a separate bag of blankets, bibs, socks and hats, the staff was able to customize the gift bags for each boy and girl. Imagine the joy of the parents knowing that their very ill infant has a "Baby's First Christmas" keepsake to treasure forever.
The gift bags for the various age groups were fabulous one again! Kids and parents were overwhelmed by your generosity. The iTunes gift cards were especially appreciated by the teens. The bag of socks will be great to have on hand - they make it easier for kids to be a little safer when coming to the playroom or teen room. The baskets of snacks were also a great idea that was a perfect addition to the presents!
Alice Bayne is an educator (and a terrific elf!) who comes in on her day off in the wee hours of the night to organize the delivery of toys to ensure every patient had a bag full of presents when they awakened on Christmas morning. Delivering Christmas cheer ensured our patients knew that Santa had not forgotten them.
The dedication of Christ's Starfish Foundation is greatly appreciated and definitely makes a difference in the lives of our patients and families. Your continued support of our kids means the world to us. I look forward to working with you in 2010! Happy New Year!
“Dimes for a Difference”
One of our annual fundraisers is our “Dimes for a Difference” program. Pepsi has partnered with the foundation to supply us with one liter bottles that have been turned into banks. Our goal is to pass out 1,000 banks in the Jacksonville community to raise funds to help meet the needs of the children at Wolfson Children’s Hospital and the families of the non-cancer patients who have financial needs due to their child being hospitalized. We cannot do what we do without partners. If you would like to partner with us to fill a bank with coins, please contact us at (904)612-8522. Please know that 100% of all money donated goes to help this cause.
The “Crystal” Project
Last year we took on our biggest project to date. The social workers at Wolfson Children’s Hospital asked us if we could help provide a wheelchair accessible van for Crystal Jones who was born with spina bifida. Crystal had a power wheelchair but her family’s van could not accommodate it. This meant that Crystal had to crawl from her chair to their van. We weren’t sure we could take on something of this magnitude but God reminded us that although we can’t — 
He can! Thanks to all of the wonderful people who partnered with us we were able to raise $15,000 and the Jones family traded in their existing van to purchase the perfect van for Crystal. She was so excited. This van made a world of difference for their family. It has given Crystal such independence. Her mom states that sometimes Crystal goes out and gets in the van which she can do with no assistance and does her homework while watching a movie. It also has allowed Crystal and her dad to travel and give saxophone concerts at different churches. We would like to thank all of the people who contributed to this project for making such a difference in the name of Jesus Christ in the life of this deserving young lady.
The “ Joshua” Project
Joshua is a precious little boy born June 8, 2008 with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Joshua has endured several surgeries with the last one making it necessary for him to be on a ventilator to assist him in breathing. Joshua’s family needed to replace their small vehicle with one that had doors that would open wide to accommodate
Joshua while attached to his ventilator and all the other equipment that he required.
On August 6, 2009 through our Lord’s leading, the project came to a wonderful conclusion. Over 20 individuals contributed to make this dream a reality and the Fletcher family took ownership of a used Honda Odyssey van. The most incredible thing about the “Joshua” Project is how our Lord continues to use “His” people to do “His” work. Joshua’s family and Christ Starfish Foundation sincerely thank each person who was obedient to God’s call on their life. Without you, none of this would be possible.
Helping hurting children and their families in the name of Jesus Christ.
