(written on sign above - "THANK YOU IT TENDER")

Dear friends and family

With grateful hearts, the families under lockdown in Manila want to show their appreciation to everyone supporting our relief operations. Because you have extended your compassion and your cupboards, we continue to provide food for families living meal-to-meal under strict quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Here is just a sample of a few "signs of gratitude" from the 150 families we are feeding in extreme poverty...

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The lockdown in Manila continues to be extended, and its been two months now that families have been required to stay in their homes. Urban poor families accustomed to living day-to-day are instead living meal-to-meal, as they can no longer scavenge through garbage dumps or work low-level jobs. The food from our relief operations is a literal life-saver for these families. If you would like to share support to feed these families, CLICK HERE to give to IT Tender's General Fund which also supports our ongoing feeding programs.

For Mother's Day, we provided a surprise for a group of expecting mothers and mothers with young infants in our slum communities. We helped them shop for formula, diapers and other baby needs.

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We also thank God for the wisdom, protection and bravery of our Tender staff and volunteer community workers leading the relief operations. This group of hard working Filipino frontliners give all they've got to ensure the survival and safety of the families we serve. I know personally that these frontliners don't seek any recognition, but I still thank you for your incredible service and care!

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Lastly, we want to leave you with a handful of photos that gives our team strength as we combat hunger and COVID-19 in our communities. Prior to the pandemic, we asked our friend and photographer Toph to take photos of our target communities and educational programs. Unfortunately, he was only able to do one photoshoot in the Putatan community (a cluster of shanties along the railway tracks). Nevertheless, seeing these photos reminds us of the wonderful communities we serve and empower. It reminds us of who we are fighting to protect. Please note that these photos were taken prior to the lockdown and before social distancing was a "thing".
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Thank you for all your support, prayers and compassion that crosses boundaries and borders.

John Coffey
Director of IT Tender