Tenderfeet Foundation
A Partnership Striving for Brighter Futures
The Tenderfeet Foundation originates from a long-term partnership between a local community and a global team that is taking a new form.
This partnership joins the forces of community leaders serving young victims of poverty in the slums of Kenya (the Tenderfeet Education Center) and a group of volunteers and donors (the Tenderfeet Foundation) who work to provide the resources necessary for doing the local work.
Put another way, the focus of the Foundation is on facilitating the mission of the Tenderfeet Education Center in Kenya, as the Tenderfeet team in Kenya seeks to accomplish its mission at the grassroots level.
The Tenderfeet Foundation organization is based in Houston, Texas in the USA. It was created in late 2009, achieving 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in mid-2010.
The Foundation originated as a Houston component of Lahash International. Lahash leadership — based in Portland, Oregon — originally made contact with Tenderfeet in late 2005.
From 2006 onward, the bulk of fundraising and coordination between Lahash and Tenderfeet took place in Houston, Texas. It was decided in 2009 that spinning off the Houston/Tenderfeet part of Lahash would help to achieve greater efficiencies.
The Tenderfeet Foundation, though based in the US, is fortunate to have strong contributions from volunteers living around the world, particularly from Canada, the UK, and Australia.
This includes financial help, but also encouragement, mutual discipleship, and cross-cultural understanding. Fundaising takes place at both the community level, and also through this website.
In addition, the Foundation seeks to raise awareness about the ravages of poverty, especially the effects on children. For instance, presentations are given to school children in affluent areas to help them understand both the blessings they enjoy as well as the challenges faced by children in the slums.
There are no paid staff in the Foundation, all work is done exclusively by volunteers. This allows the Foundation to keep overhead at effectively zero.