HOUGHTON – To convey the impact Good Will Farm (now U.P. Kids) had on his life, Mark Aho turned to an analogy about starfish.

In his story, a man walked down a beach covered with starfish that had washed on shore. He threw one back in the water. When someone yelled at him that it was a waste of time, the man disagreed: To the starfish, it mattered a great deal.

“I know it started out pretty shaky,” he said. “However, there is no question that because the Good Will Farm was there and supported by this community, I was given a chance.”

Aho, who was adopted through Good Will Farm, spoke at the U.P. Kids Grand Gala at the Rozsa Center Wednesday night.

The annual gala was created as a way to get the word out about U.P. Kids’ programs, as well as to honor the people involved.

The adoption service changed Mark’s life. His birth mother had been on her own, without support from her family or his father, who would not admit his parentage.

But Mark received several blessings, he said. He was born, first of all, and was placed at the Good Will Farm.

Then he was adopted by June and Arnie Aho, who had moved back to the Upper Peninsula in the late 1950s to work at the White Pine Mine.

Mark learned the value of hard work, honesty, integrity and kindness from his adoptive father. From his adoptive mother, he learned the value of unconditional love.

His parents never hid that he was adopted, or their joy at having him, telling people, “He is one of the joys of our lives.”

Mark attended Northern Michigan University, where he met his wife, Julie, while receiving a master’s degree in business. They have two children, one of whom is attending Finlandia University. Mark works as a financial consultant in Marquette.

Mark first met his birth mother and his two half-siblings about 20 years ago. He gave them their privacy, but re-entered their lives in 2014, when he visited his birth mother shortly before she died of cancer.

“I was able to spend an afternoon with her holding her hand and telling her how thankful I was for her and that I loved her very much,” he said.

Though Arnie died while Mark was in his 20s, June, now 91, and his sister Donna were there in the audience Wednesday night to watch him.

The event also featured singing by Kiersten Birondo, who had been involved in the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program: first, as a Little Sister, then as Big Sister to two girls.

She chose songs related to her experiences in the program. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” she said, was inspired by conversations she had with her teenaged Little Sisters.

It had a special meaning for Mark as well; he had danced to it with his daughter at her wedding last month. The performance left him emotional during his speech, he said, despite having rehearsed it several times.

Supporting U.P. Kids is vitally important, Mark said.

“I consider it a privilege to be able to help support this cause,” he said. “Thank you all for being the ones who will walk down that beach and breathe life into all of these children.”