3rd Annual New Year and 2nd Anniversary Celebration

Hello Friends,

As announced in the President's news and updates email earlier this week, TIFAC will be hosting the 2011 New Year and 2nd Anniversary Celebration on Sunday, January 16, 2011 from 1 - 6 PM. For the first time, TIFAC will be having this special event at a hotel - Hilton Suites Anaheim/Orange 400 N. State College Boulevard, Orange, CA 92868. We have listened to member's feedback and this year we have secured 2 function rooms - one central room for the main program and a separate kids room where they can enjoy age appropriate activities and prizes after the main program. This will allow adults ample time to Dance, Dance, Dance - Yes that was the most requested suggestion by members - More Dancing. We have hired a DJ to play your favorite tunes. And we will have some great raffle prizes. Attached is the flyer for the event.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for kids (4-12). Don't miss out!! There are a limited amount of tickets, so secure your spot by purchasing your tickets early. Reply back via email or contact one of the officers to purchase your tickets.

We will also be creating a Souvenir Program for members to take home. Please send your well-wishes, share your family picture, or advertise your business in the Program. See the attached Advertising Agreement for more details. We would certainly appreciate your assistance in forwarding the agreement to other family, friends, and business owners who may be interested in marketing directly to the Filipino American community in Irvine and surrounding areas.

Lastly - please don't forget about the TIFAC Membership Drive. The top 3 members who refer/recruit the most new members (based on the previously announced point system) by Jan. 16 will have their annual membership dues paid by TIFAC and will be eligible for other great prizes.

We look forward to having you at the party.

Happy New Year!!

The Irvine Filipino American Community

Seasons Greetings and Latest News/Announcements

Hello Friends,

First - On behalf of The Irvine Filipino American Community and its Officers, I would like to extend our warmest Holiday Greetings to you and your family – Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!!!

Next I would like to give everyone an update on TIFAC and the latest news/announcements:

Your newly elected Officers have been busy planning for 2011. We just completed our Strategic Planning process and will be sharing our enhanced Mission, Goals/Objectives, and Values at the upcoming New Year Party. We have a lot of exciting programs and activities planned for 2011. We have our Annual New Year and Anniversary Party on Sunday January 16, 2011 from 1 - 6 PM. For the first time we will be having the party at a hotel (more information will be sent separately in the next few days – but please reserve the date on your calendars). We are especially excited about some new programs that will be starting in the coming year. Some of the planned programs include: Filipino Culture & Tagalog Language Program, Youth, Teen, and Young Adults Mentoring, a Program for Seniors, Health & Wellness Program, Community Service, Social Activities and many others. We can’t wait to get these started for the members.

We will also be starting a Membership Drive Contest. The top 3 members who recruits/refers the most new paid members between now and January 16, 2011, will receive 1 year of paid membership dues plus be eligible to win some great prizes. Remember, membership is open to not only Irvine residents but also the surrounding communities. Members don’t even need to be Filipino – just have an interest in the Filipino community and culture. We will use a point system to track contest leaders. For each new Family membership that is paid, the referring/recruiting member will receive 2 points – an Individual paid membership will receive 1 point. The top recruiting/referring member will be determined by the point total they accumulate throughout the Membership Drive. The contest is open to all members. A copy of the membership form is attached for your convenience so that you can forward to your new recruits/referrals. Please ensure that the “Referred/Recruited by” field is filled in with your name, so that you get appropriate point credit for each new member registration.

Last, I would like to humbly ask a favor from all our members. I strongly believe that the success and value of any organization is directly tied to the strength and involvement of its membership. It is the primary role of the leadership to ensure that the vision, mission, values and programs of the organization are compelling enough for members to warrant pride and involvement in the organization. Together, the leadership and membership, can accomplish great things. It won’t be easy, but can assure you that the new officers are committed to TIFAC, its vision/mission, and to the membership. Therefore, so that we can work in partnership together to build TIFAC, I ask all members to please consider involvement in one or more of our Committees. Our Committees include: Communications, Community Affairs, Community Service, Fund Raising, Health & Wellness, Hospitality & Welcome, Major Events, Membership, Political Affairs, Seniors Program, Social Activities, and Youth, Student & Young Adults. See attached sheet for committee descriptions. Please reply back with your committee interest(s) so that we can get the committees started and organized.

I look forward to a very productive 2011 for TIFAC and to meeting and working with each one of you personally.

Best Regards,

Roger

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Roger Ledina

President

The Irvine Filipino American Community

TIFAC Elects New Leadership for 2011-2012

TIFAC hosted its 2010 Annual Picnic last Saturday, October 16, 2010 at Col. Bill Barber Park. The day was filled with great food, games, prizes, fun and camaraderie. It was highlighted by the election of TIFAC's new set of officers for 2011 through 2012. Congratulations to the Incoming Officers:

President - Roger Ledina
Vice President - Edgar Reyes
Secretary - Jenn Espe & Gladys Cortez
Treasurer - Noemi Suh
Asst. Treasurer - Pilette Montemayor
Auditor -Nancy Trinidad
Public Relations - Jeremiah Bautista, Julie Castelar, & Cielo Tucay

TIFAC Hosts Exhibit at the 2010 Irvine Global Village Festival

For the second year, The Irvine Filipino American Community (TIFAC) hosted the Filipino Cultural Exhibit at the 2010 Irvine Global Village Festival. More than 16,000 people attended the ninth annual event to learn about and experience the cultural traditions of their friends and neighbors.TIFAC doubled its exhibit space from last year and showcased tourism destinations; cultural songs, dance, art, music; and Irvine student activities and Irvine Filipino Community History. In line with its mission to build partnerships with other Filipino American organizations, TIFAC was also able to secure the participation of the Filipino American Chamber of Commerce of Orange County (FACCOC) and Manila Groove Restaurant of Tustin to help represent the Filipino culture at the Festival.

This year the Filipino Community was showcased in the City's video covering the event. Please see the link to the video here: http://irvine.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?publish_id=438 It starts at about the 3:15 mark.

TIFAC look forward to a bigger and better exhibit in 2011.

Congratulations - Filipino Outreach Group of St. John Neumann!!

Congratulations to the Filipino Outreach Group of St. John Neumann Catholic Church. They just hosted their first Filipino Mass on March 6, 2010. It was a huge success and has led to Monthly Filipino Masses culminating in 3 nights of Simbang Gabi this Christmas 2010. The next Mass will be on Saturday April 24, 2010 6:30PM at the Church. For more information about the group and schedule of events see their website at www.filipinooutreach.org .

TIFAC’s 1st Anniversary & 2nd Annual New Year’s Party

Congratulations TIFAC family! We did it! We survived the first year & we look forward to many more years ahead of us. The celebration last January 9, 2010 was attended by more than 200 of our “kababayans”. Next year we need a bigger venue to accommodate our growing community.

The evening was filled with fun & music from our talented members. We have future “American Idols” in the making: Ysabel Montemayor sang “White Horse” with her sister Veronica on the guitar, Jamie Castelar did beautiful rendition of “Bakit” and the house was brought down by father & son Frank & Giovanni Daniel. Everyone was in awe when Frank (an American) sang “Habang may Bukas” without an accent! And the six-year old Giovanni did his version of “Dancing Queen” with feelings & full of emotions!

A group of SJN REP (Religious Education Program) children entertained us with a dance number. And of course the talented sisters Sydney & Chelsea Mariano serenaded us with violin pieces.

Both the young & not-so-young enjoyed the games, especially the “Maria went to town” by the men. They were hilarious! The food was great, thank you to the Food Committee. Special thanks to Rose Soong who prepared & donated 3 trays for veggies, fried rice, to Pilette Montemayor for the sumptuous spaghetti and to all who brought something that we might have missed.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to the Gulpo family for sharing their time & talent with the hall preparation & decorations and of course to Patrick for the design of the program and for taking the pictures for this event.

A “Volunteer of the Month” is a special award that will be given to an individual or family that extraordinarily went above & beyond expectations. That award (yet to be given) goes to the CASTELAR Family. Jewel & Julie with their children Juliet, Jamie. Jacklyn, Jennica & Jewelito (Tiger as fondly called) have been very supportive and really hands-on before, during and after the party. They all work the floor from making sure that we have drinks, keeping an eye on the “Money Square” fundraising and Tiger was all over in the cleanup with no complaints! Congratulations you guys, you’re fun to watch.

And of course, thank you to our amazing first time emcees Marcee Dela Cruz & Blessie Vizconde. They did a wonderful job.

Mabuhay TIFAC & see you all next year!

TIFAC will celebrate its 2nd Annual New Year’s Party

On January 9, 2010, Saturday, TIFAC will be celebrating its 2^nd Annual New Year’s Party. All members/non-members, their families & friends are invited to join. It will be held in the Terrace Clubhouse at #50 Jordan Ave, Irvine, CA 92612 at 5 in the afternoon.