As the polar vortex hit Maine, four Boothbay area women headed to the tropical climate of Thailand to visit Maine-based “Friends of Thai Daughters,” a nonprofit organization protecting young girls from human trafficking.

Southport summer resident Sharma Schacknow, and Juliette Cohen of West Boothbay spent a week in Northern Thailand with Barters Islands’ Patty Zinkowski and Jane McBride visiting FTD’s Sunflower Houses, home to 30 girls and young women. As director (trustee) of the Schacknow Family Foundation which has provided support to Friends of Thai Daughters for many years, Sharma was interested to learn first hand how their funding positively impacted the lives of so many children.

“The Schacknow Family Foundation has been a supporter of FTD for the past several years. So I was excited to have the opportunity to visit their Sunflower Houses in Chiang Rai and Chiang Khong in Thailand,” said Schacknow. “I was quite impressed with all the girls that I met. They all were bright and interested in getting a good education. Further, the girls want to teach the life skills they had learned to other children in the hill tribe villages. Their sense of community and desire to succeed in life was inspirational and heart warming to experience first hand.”

It was Juliette Cohen’s first trip to Thailand. Juliette is owner of Above and Beyond Scheduling Services in Boothbay Harbor. She said, “It was a delight to meet the Thai Daughters. The work and dedication done by FTD is truly evident when spending time with the Daughters. They exude self confidence, eagerness to learn, and are warm and welcoming.”

Cohen added, “It is impressive to see the quality of care that they receive from the FTD family. I feel very fortunate to have visited with them and witnessed their plans to ;pay it forward.’ I can’t wait to see what comes next!”

FTD co-founders McBride and Zinkowski were pleased to introduce the women to their growing family of Daughters. They also welcomed the opportunity to describe their current renovation project to create additional dorm space for several college-bound Daughters.

McBride and Zinkowski are grateful for the support of the Boothbay Harbor community including the Schacknow Family Foundation, the Fran and Otto Walter Foundation and the many Boothbay supporters who may never have the chance to travel to see the project first hand.