Dear friends and supporters of IT Tender,

It's official, we're taking a big leap forwards. We're taking possession of the building for our new center this month! This is because of the generosity of our wonderful donors. Thanks to your support, we have thus far raised $360,000 CAD of the total $470,000 CAD needed to both purchase and fully renovate the building. For our American supporters, that's $273,280 USD already donated or pledged towards the $350,000 USD target.

By God's grace, we've come this far. Now it's the home stretch towards our new home. In order to accomplish the renovations we are praying for, we need to step up one last time and give towards the new educational center of IT Tender. If we can hit our target, we can complete renovations by June 2025 and operate out of a new center complete with a fully furnished preschool room, ballet studio, computer lab, library, and even a modern hydroponic garden on the rooftop.

Click the link below to give towards the Big Leap Project, and all donors will receive a tax deductible receipt.

‍CANADIAN DONATION (select "IT Tender - Philippines")

‍AMERICAN DONATION

‍Our fundraiser for the Big Leap Project gained serious momentum at our charity dinner in Ontario on June 7th. During our "One Timeless Filipino Evening" event, we were able to raise $130,615 CAD in one night for the new educational center! God is good, and we are truly grateful to the donors who stepped up to support the Big Leap Project.

Although the Coffey family were the only ones able to travel from Manila to Canada for the charity dinner, the whole Tender Team stepped up by sending suitcases of handcrafted decorations and giveaways. And the Tender students contributed to the project in their own way, sharing their talents by spending countless hours rehearsing dance numbers, recording an original song, and making beautiful music videos and video testimonies of their stories to share at the charity gala.

In case you missed the big event, please enjoy this original song (composed by our very own Teacher Gabby Malquisto) and music video (directed by our former scholar JM Basiwa) with all instrumentals, vocals, and dances performed by the students of IT Tender.

"Big Leap'" is an original song performed by the sponsor children and scholars of IT Tender in Manila in support of the "Big Leap Project" for a new educational center. All scenes in the music video were filmed at the new building that IT Tender will move into! (*this link will also take you to the music video)Click here for more videos from our unforgettable charity dinner. We want to thank all of the volunteers, the planning committee, WMB Church (for facilitating the event), Woodland Christian High School (for providing the perfect venue), and our generous guests and supporters.

In other news, as the Tender Team and the number of scholars continues to grow (hence the move to a larger center), the Coffey family is also growing. As Ali (8 years old) and Jenny (4 years old) grow too fast, there is another little "Coffey bean" on the way.

Truly, there is a lot to be thankful for. Here is a photo summary of the many things we've been grateful for over the past few months at IT Tender...#1. We're thankful for visitors and volunteers from across the globe!

‍#2. We're thankful for local vocational schools where students from IT Tender are trained to work with their hands and mentored to strengthen their minds.

‍#3. We're thankful for milestones for our team. Gabby, John and Cecille all turned 40 years old this year, and our community worker Lovely welcomed her baby girl Hiraya into the Tender family.

‍#4. We're thankful that we were able to meet with the mayor of the city, and we're grateful for a seat at the table of a network of charities across Metro Manila. John Coffey was a keynote speaker at recent charity summit in September.

‍#5. We're grateful for partnerships. Partners like Extreme Response provide trainings for our scholars and their parents, including their Golden Hands Program that mentors and equips through sewing tutorials.

‍#6. We're grateful for the hope, faith and perseverance to overcome trials and see a better future ahead. Last month, a typhoon caused damage to homes in our community and flooded our drop-in center. You're prayers and support got us through it, and we look forward to moving to the new center (that is NOT in a flood prone area!).

Thank you for your support. Below are the current prayers and praises of our team in Manila.- The Tender Team

• Continue to pray for the Big Leap Project. Our final target is to raise the remaining $110,000 CAD ($76,720 USD) to accomplish the renovations of the new center.
• Pray for the permit we will soon apply for to begin renovations.
• Pray for protection and provisions as our team travels to another province (a 10-hour drive!) next week for the wedding ceremony of our preschool teacher Cecille and her fiance Joel (whose relatives live in that distant province). Our team will stay in the area for a few days for team building and trainings after the wedding.
• Pray for the health of Jam and the little "Coffey bean" throughout the pregnancy.

• We take possession of the new building this month, and we will have a simple turnover ceremony to formally receive the keys to the building from our partner charity (the former owner of the building).
• After the flooding from the last typhoon, our volunteers came together to help out, and our center is once again clean, dry, and safe for our students.
• Our community worker Lovely gave birth to a beautiful, healthy girl named Hiraya. She is the most calm, relaxed baby we know, and she enjoys being held by anyone on the Tender Team as her mother often brings her to work at the center.