A fund-raiser will be held on May 21 at HairFX Studio to help raise money for
two 8th-grade students from Trafalgar Middle School who will travel to Australia for three weeks in June through the People to People Ambassador Program.
The trip, from June 19 to July 7, will provide Brianna and Gianna, both 14, with the opportunity to experience meetings with government officials, educational activities, hiking, snorkeling in the coral reefs and a stay with an Australian host family. They will visit Cairns, Townsville, Yeppoon, Sunshine Coast, Moreton Island and Sydney.
The trip will cost $14,000 for the two of them, which includes their travel, stay, hosting homes and activities. The family still needs an additional $2,000 to cover expenses of the trip.
Carmel Ferraro, the mother of the two 8th grade students, said the trip is an experience of a lifetime for her girls because it will change their lives forever.
Ferraro said a cut-a-thon will be held at HairFX Studio to raise additional money needed. Hair cuts and manicures will be offered from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. for a donation of $10 or whatever people feel in their hearts to give.
“Everything raised will go towards their trip to Australia,” Ferraro said about the fund-raiser.
The hair stylists who are participating in the fund-raiser include Christine Livelli and Ferraro from Shear Bliss, and Lilly Null from HairFX Studio. The manicurists who will provide their services include Shear Bliss’ Babs Holdsworth and HairFX Studio’s Jessie Richards.
The owner and hair stylist of HairFX Studio, Susan Murphy, may also be at the fund-raiser to provide a helping hand.
The fund-raiser will also feature a few raffles.
For those who cannot make it to the fund-raiser, Ferraro said, but would still like to donate money to send Brianna and Gianna to Australia, people can go to any Wachovia Bank and deposit money into their account.
Since the People to People Ambassador Program was founded in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower, it has had more than 400,000 alumni who have traveled to seven continents.
Ferraro said the program began because President Eisenhower wanted to make an organization where children would see what other children do in other countries.
She said her twin daughters received a letter last November from the People to People Ambassador Program to inform them that they were nominated to travel to Australia. Ferraro said that they had to go through a prescreening test to be accepted. Out of 40 nominations, Brianna and Gianna were among the 15 students picked for the program in Lee County.
HairFX Studio is located at 3812 Skyline Blvd. For more information, call the studio at 239-549-1139 or call Carmel Ferraro at 609-685-6083.