"Travel Fairy Godmother Stephanie Abrams Sends Teens from Giving Tree Outreach’s Homeless and Needy Kids Rescue Program from Tucson to Ireland for Three Week Visit."

 

Boston, June 14, 2007 — When “Lucky Caller Number 5” phoned the talk hotline for travel expert Stephanie Abrams’ nationally syndicated radio show, Travel WITH Stephanie Abrams, in April, 2004, she had no idea she won more than a stay in a San Francisco hotel. The winner, Tucson based Libby Wright Giovingo, Executive Director and founder of the Giving Tree Outreach Program that rescues homeless children and assists needy children, won Abrams’ attention and assistance in providing life-enriching travel experiences for young people identified by the Giving Tree. “The result of that winning first encounter is still paying off this year as Libby and her husband are accompanying three young people from the organization on a spectacular 22 day trip in Ireland!” Abrams states.

Since that first telephone encounter when Abrams was introduced to the work of the Giving Tree, she has sent a group of children, with Libby Wright and her husband as chaperones on extensive trips including a group of 12 young people with 4 chaperones to California for 12 days in 2004, and has sent and sponsored 3 different teens each summer for the past two years to a teen camp in Maine for four weeks.

When asked how this year’s group wound up in Ireland, Abrams credits Denis Kane, the General Manager of the Golf Club at the Marriott Druids Glen Golf Resort in Newtownmountkennedy, County Wicklow, Ireland for encouraging her to undertake the task of organizing an itinerary in Ireland for the group. “Denis was a guest on last fall on ‘Travel WITH Stephanie Abrams,’ talking about golfing in Ireland. We have a huge number of listeners interested in golf vacations and places to have meetings and conferences where great golfing is available. Denis mentioned that Druids Glen was the first golf resort in Ireland to have the First Tee program established by Tiger Woods and backed by golfers who created a program to teach young people golfing skills along with the values one learns playing golf including persistence, always trying to better oneself, the importance of honesty and good sportsmanship among others. When I mentioned that would be something of value for the Giving Tree teens, Denis said, ‘Why don’t you send them to Ireland next summer!’ I didn’t have to stop to think about that idea. We moved right into the planning phase and the kids are in Ireland right now in the midst of a 24 day odyssey filled with unimaginable learning experiences with the help of so many wonderful people in Ireland!” Abrams explains".

Abrams explains that she sees travel as a vital element in the educational process. “For Giving Tree teens whose horizons are limited by the boundaries of the streets where they live, my Travel Fairy Godmother mission creates unique opportunities for travel to places that I hope will expand their insights, enrich their understanding, uplift their spirits, and provide experiences that contribute to their ability to set meaningful goals for themselves,” Abrams states. “Ireland is the perfect destination for that purpose. It is rich in history, religion, art, music literature, gorgeous landscapes, seascapes, gardens, lakes and cliffs that inspire creative thinking and self-expression.

 

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