By Gillian Cortes | Executive Director
Celebrating Your Kind Heart
Because of you, another generation of Filipino Amerasian children has broken the cycle of generational poverty. In the Philippines, where millions of families live below the poverty line and only 17% of underprivileged youth can access higher education, your belief in our mission is a lifeline. This quarter, your generosity directly funded the final milestones of the academic year, bringing our students across the finish line.
Our Growing Impact and Big Vision
Your contributions have ensured that these 100 students have the educational allowance to get to school, supplies, uniforms and school shoes.
However, our work is far from finished. The demand for educational support remains high, which is why we are actively continuing to raise funds. Our goal is twofold:
1. Sustain our current 100 scholars so they can seamlessly continue their education into the next school year.
2. Add 100 more scholars to our program, effectively doubling our impact and opening doors for a total of 200 Filipino Amerasian youth.
3. Increase partnerships for sustainable support from elementary to college.
Q3 Milestones
The third quarter of 2026 was marked by immense joy as we celebrated our end-of-year school assessments and graduations. And prepared for the next school year. Your generosity successfully provided:
Academic Clearances & Final Fees: graduation fees, and ceremony requirements for elementary, high school, and college scholars.
Before the start of the school year, our scholars in the National Capital Region were actively helping raise funds by sharing their voices. They were invited to perform at a fundraiser for us called “Elvis and Friends,” 2026 edition. Our high school scholar who can belt out a Frank Sinatra or Elvis song performed together with very amazing Elvis impersonators. The rest of the scholars expressed their gratitude by performing “What the World Needs Now,” by Burt Bacharach. Their message to those who came out on a rainy evening to help raise funds and now to you reading this is “you are what the world needs now!.” A day after, a group of ladies organized “Ladies Night” to raise funds for us through an evening of disco dancing. The scholars have not only found their voice but have also gained the appreciation and care of groups like the Elks National Foundation, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Rotary Club Makati, Lancaster Technology and Development and private individuals.
Another milestone is that some of the scholars ended the first semester or grading period with honors while the rest brought home averages higher than a B or 85%.
Financial Breakdown: Where Your Donations Go
To give you a clear picture of how your global contributions transform into daily support on the ground, here is how we distribute funding to keep our 100 active scholars securely in school:
Distributed every month to cover everyday school needs like food, transit, and daily learning materials.
Annual Academic Total: Php 10,000 (Approx. $160.00 USD) per student
The guaranteed, continuous structural funding each scholar receives across the span of one full academic school year.
A targeted allowance allocated specifically for durable school shoes or mandated school bags when families hit emergency shortfalls.
(Note: USD approximations are adjusted to current 2026 baseline exchange rates).
Responding to Campus Security Changes: Transparent Backpacks
Our special Php 600 structural allowance has become incredibly vital this term. Following a string of safety incidents on campuses across the country, the Department of Education (DepEd) has rolled out heightened security protocols. This includes strict gate inspections and a mandatory requirement for students to carry transparent backpacks or clear school bags.
While these see-through bags are a critical measure to protect our youth, purchasing them puts an immediate, unexpected financial strain on low-income families. Thanks to your fundraising support, PAGA is stepping in to absorb this cost, ensuring our scholars walk onto their campuses both completely safe and fully compliant with their school's new regulations.
What’s Next? Preparing Our Scholars
As we look forward to the upcoming academic term, our focus shifts to prepping our community for new enrollments, securing uniforms, and raising the necessary capital to on board our next 100 students. In addition to these preparations, we are incredibly excited to announce two vital upcoming boot camps designed to equip our scholars for real-world environmental and personal challenges:
We are launching a special initiative to empower our scholars to face the localized impacts of climate change. We are already feeling the early effects of the El Niño phenomenon, which is projected to intensify and last through the first quarter of next year. This camp will teach our youth practical safety, resource conservation, and health adaptation strategies to stay resilient against severe heat waves and water scarcities.
2.Mental Health and Wellness Boot Camp:
Because physical safety is only half the battle, this second camp is focused entirely on emotional well-being. We want to give our scholars a dedicated, safe space to get in touch with themselves, raise their self-esteem, and deepen their self-belief. The curriculum will provide them with actionable tools to balance stress, anxiety, and daily hardships. By helping them become aware of and ready to manage their mental and social challenges, we ensure they stay on track to successfully complete their educational journeys.
Celebrating over 50 Years of Partnership with the Elks National Foundation:
Both of these transformative boot camps are proudly sponsored by the Elks National Foundation. For over half a century, the Elks National Foundation has been a steadfast, cornerstone partner of PAGA, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to the welfare and upward mobility of Filipino Amerasian youth. Their generous, long-term support has allowed us to continually innovate our programs, moving beyond standard tuition assistance to build holistic, forward-thinking initiatives that secure a better future for our youth.
Celebrating the Impact of Your Kindness: More Than Earning Academic Honors
As a testament to how your support changes lives in real-time, we are incredibly proud to share a major update from the new academic year. For the first grading period since classes officially commenced in July, several of our scholars have achieved top marks and made it directly onto their schools' official Honors Lists!
This is a massive point of success when you look at the daily realities these children face. To help put food on the table, some of our scholars must work part-time jobs immediately after their classes end. Yet, despite the exhausting physical and emotional toll of balancing labor and academics, they are still delivering excellent, high-caliber work in the classroom.
Just this milestone alone represents the true breaking of a painful, generational cycle. For many of our scholars, their grandmothers and mothers worked in entertainment bars and faced an absolute lack of opportunities. In their time, school tuition was not free, and they had to earn whatever they could on a daily basis just to keep their children alive. They could never afford an education. Today, by showing up, working after hours, and making the honors list, our scholars are rewriting their family histories and stepping into a future their elders could only dream of.
You made this happen. Thank you for continuing to stand as heroes for education and helping us build a bridge for 100 more children.
Your are what the world needs now!
With our deepest gratitude,
The PAGA Team
______________________________________________________________________________
(Nothing follows)
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.
Start a Fundraiser
