Trip of a Lifetime
A walk across the Golden Gate Bridge followed by a sojourn on Lake Tahoe, a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, a stay at the Monte Carlo in Las Vegas and a hike through the Grand Canyon — it sounds like a $60,000 prize in the final round of a game show. But for underprivileged teenagers in Westchester County, this trip was completely free. The only price was an open mind.
Stan Rosenberg spent the summer of 2007 on one such Teen Tour in California, cultivating the budding leadership skills that led him to found a nonprofit organization offering underprivileged teenagers the same valuable opportunity.His nonprofit, Trip of a Lifetime, works with local high schools in New York City, Westchester County and the rest of the Tri-State area to identify low-income students with a passion for traveling and for helping others who could benefit from the experience.
"My vision for Trip of a Lifetime is to ensure [lack of] family income never deters any teenager [from] having the ability to travel," Rosenberg said. "As many students at NYU know firsthand, traveling is contagious; one positive experience impacts many lives. We at Trip of a Lifetime want to spread the positive benefits of travel to as many students as possible."TOAL sends teenagers on three- to four-week-long tours on the West Coast, where they camp in national parks and visit landmarks and tourist attractions. The trips aim to foster leadership and confidence in the teens that participate.
Stern freshman and TOAL co-founder Josh Kogan has a deep connection to the organization for the life-altering experience the program offers underprivileged students."The product of all our work, actually sending the first student on one of these amazing experiences, gave me an extremely rewarding feeling," he said. "I knew that I had permanently and positively changed someone's life.
"Rosenberg said gaining credibility for the organization has been the biggest challenge in the past three years, as some thought the opportunity was "too good to be true.""As a relatively new organization, it has been difficult to convince parents, students and schools that we are a legitimate nonprofit organization," he said. "Interestingly enough, though, even in the recession, fundraising has never been our problem."In fact, TOAL has raised over $75,000 from over 500 donors and from fundraisers such as band nights, merchandise sales and online auctions."As we continued to generate publicity and leverage social media, this perception soon began to change. I am happy to say Trip of a Lifetime is as strong as ever now," Rosenberg added.
Maria Suarez, a sophomore at White Plains High School, participated in the program last summer."[The trip] has shown me that there is a world outside of what I see," she said. "The trip changed me because I interacted with many different types of people on my tour. I learned about how to deal with different personalities. It was a valuable experience for my future."
Stan Rosenberg spent the summer of 2007 on one such Teen Tour in California, cultivating the budding leadership skills that led him to found a nonprofit organization offering underprivileged teenagers the same valuable opportunity.His nonprofit, Trip of a Lifetime, works with local high schools in New York City, Westchester County and the rest of the Tri-State area to identify low-income students with a passion for traveling and for helping others who could benefit from the experience.
"My vision for Trip of a Lifetime is to ensure [lack of] family income never deters any teenager [from] having the ability to travel," Rosenberg said. "As many students at NYU know firsthand, traveling is contagious; one positive experience impacts many lives. We at Trip of a Lifetime want to spread the positive benefits of travel to as many students as possible."TOAL sends teenagers on three- to four-week-long tours on the West Coast, where they camp in national parks and visit landmarks and tourist attractions. The trips aim to foster leadership and confidence in the teens that participate.
Stern freshman and TOAL co-founder Josh Kogan has a deep connection to the organization for the life-altering experience the program offers underprivileged students."The product of all our work, actually sending the first student on one of these amazing experiences, gave me an extremely rewarding feeling," he said. "I knew that I had permanently and positively changed someone's life.
"Rosenberg said gaining credibility for the organization has been the biggest challenge in the past three years, as some thought the opportunity was "too good to be true.""As a relatively new organization, it has been difficult to convince parents, students and schools that we are a legitimate nonprofit organization," he said. "Interestingly enough, though, even in the recession, fundraising has never been our problem."In fact, TOAL has raised over $75,000 from over 500 donors and from fundraisers such as band nights, merchandise sales and online auctions."As we continued to generate publicity and leverage social media, this perception soon began to change. I am happy to say Trip of a Lifetime is as strong as ever now," Rosenberg added.
Maria Suarez, a sophomore at White Plains High School, participated in the program last summer."[The trip] has shown me that there is a world outside of what I see," she said. "The trip changed me because I interacted with many different types of people on my tour. I learned about how to deal with different personalities. It was a valuable experience for my future."
