Starthrower Foundation is a registered Canadian charity founded by Sharon Gaskell, promoting social justice and education in Haiti - working primarily with young Haitian adults in Cap-Haitien and Sen Rafayel.

Currently we are supporting  152 students, the largest concentration in secondary school divided between Cap-Haitien and Sen Rafayel.  Those in post secondary are scattered: Dominican Republic, Port-au-Prince, Léogâne, Limbe, Cap-Haitien.  We also have half a dozen who are apprenticing in trades (carpenters, mechanics, masons).  We have over 100 names on our active waiting list.

We pay for our students out of all the donations we receive, but we also offer individual sponsorships.  We are looking for people, or groups of people, willing to journey with one of our young students.  If you cannot afford to fully sponsor a student, you can join our program Starthrowers in Action and help sponsor a student for as little as $10 a month.

Please work with us to better serve them.  Every dollar makes a difference.

Thank you,

 Sharon Gaskell

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How do you define ‘success’? Is it the journey we take or the destination we reach? The journey these young people are taking is far from over, but they are already a ‘success’.  Here are two of our ‘senior starfish’.

Elorge J.B – 3rd year medicine at PUCMM (Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Santiago, Dominican Republic) after spending 18 months studying Intensive Spanish.  In 2003-04 he was a high school student at College Vincent Oge in the mountain Village of Sen Rafayel. In the 2004 picture above, he held a baby for the first time, and talked about his dream of becoming a doctor. His sponsor is Mme Marjorie P. of Sarnia, Ontario.

Jhennie C. – 3rd year Business Administration at UTESA (Universidad Technologica Santiago, Dominican Republic) In her 2005  pic above, Jhennie sports her new glasses. She attended Centre Formation Classique in Cap-Haitien.  As we were unable to secure a sponsor for her for university, she worked a term then went to school for a term. As of Christmas 2010 she is sponsored by Sharon O. and family in Inglewood, Ontario.

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The Starthrower Foundation takes its inspiration from the Loren Eiseley story:

The Star Thrower

A man was walking on the beach one day and noticed a boy who was reaching down, picking up a starfish and throwing it in the ocean.  As he approached, he called out, “Hello!  What are you doing?”  The boy looked up and said, “I’m throwing starfish into the ocean”.  “Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?” asked the man.  “The tide stranded them.  If I don’t throw them in the water before the sun comes up, they’ll die” came the answer.  “Surely you realize that there are miles of beach, and thousands of starfish.  You’ll never throw them all back, there are too many.  You can’t possibly make a difference.”  The boy listened politely, then picked up another starfish.  As he threw it back into the sea, he said, “It made a difference for that one.”