The Next Gen Come Up

Help Fund the Next Generation of Changemakers!

#FundTNGCU #TheNextGenComeUpChallenge

 

Hi! My name is Anya Dillard, and when I was 15, I founded The Next Gen Come Up (TNGCU) ― a nonprofit that encourages youth to pursue activism, organize with their peers, get involved in community service, and raise awareness through creating thought-provoking works of art. I’ve been an activist since I was 12, but my journey as a changemaker started over half a decade prior. When I was just 5 years old I kickstarted an annual holiday gift-giving charity that helped raise tens of thousands of dollars to provide the children suffering from severe physical and neurological disabilities with toys, socks, clothing, musical instruments, and more every holiday season. In the past 4 years alone, The Next Gen has helped to raise over $5,000 in support for that initiative.

 

Image: (2008-2020) Anya Dillard over the course of her service journey and gift-giving charity.

 

Since the beginning of my journey as an activist, my goal has been to inspire other young people to break barriers in their respective career paths, stand up against hatred of all forms, and give back to as well as advocate for people who need resources and representation. My organization The Next Gen Come Up was founded with these same goals in mind and strives to change the world, not only through uniting like-minded young people, but through community organizing, executing service projects, sharing thought-provoking works of art, and celebrating intersectional allyship all year round.

 

By donating to this fundraiser, you will help us...

 

1. Turn The Next Gen Come Up into an established nonprofit organization with a budget for staff and volunteers to assist with organizing non-violent protests, as well as annual cultural celebrations, events, and collection efforts.

 

2. Purchase resources for future collection efforts and drives (period products, school supplies, children's clothing, winter coats, canned food, books, etc.).

 

3. Purchase necessary supplies (face masks, water, etc.), equipment (megaphones, flyers, flags, etc.), and means of travel (transportation to various demonstrations) for our members to provide frontline support.

 

4. Erect and develop TNGCU summer leadership academies, youth mentorship programs, and school chapters/ clubs.

 

If you're wondering how to support the youth leaders of today... THIS IS HOW! Our goal is $20,000 and we hope to exceed our goal through the support of our community and allies.

 

 

More About Anya and Her Amazing Organization

 

Since its founding, The Next Gen Come Up has done outstanding work in communities all over the tri-state area. Last year, during the summer of 2020, Anya contributed to the largest civil rights demonstration in West Orange, NJ history and helped organize West Orange’s first-ever public Juneteenth Celebration, as a member of The West Orange Youth Caucus. This year, following the establishment of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, Anya brought The Next Gen Come Up and The West Orange Youth Caucus together to host the sequel to that monumental event. The Next Gen Come Up has also organized countless school walkouts, demonstrations, and social media campaigns advocating for climate change awareness, fighting against racism and police brutality, and advocating for period poverty awareness.

 

Image: (Sept. 20, 2019) Anya Dillard, 17, walking the track alongside her West Orange High School peers in support of the global climate strike.

 

Though organizing is one of TNGCU’s top priorities, philanthropy is as well. In addition to being huge contributors to Anya Dillard’s annual holiday gift-giving charity initiative at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center, The Next Gen Come Up has also been extremely dedicated to providing underrepresented and economically disenfranchised communities with resources.

 

Image: (Aug. 29, 2019) Anya Dillard, 16, and her brother Avery preparing to deliver backpacks to the children of Sierra House for TNGCU's annual school supply drive.

 

In the summer of 2019, The Next Gen Come Up also hosted their first school supply drive, in which they donated over $400 worth of backpacks and school supplies to the children of Sierra house ― a group home shelter in East Orange, New Jersey that provides sanctuary for women escaping poverty, and their children. That fall The Next Gen Come Up created a period poverty awareness campaign and partnered with the Nu Theta Omega Girls Step Team to raise money towards eradicating period poverty in Ghana. The Next Gen Come Up partnered with the very first all-female all POC Student Council Cabinet of West Orange High School to recreate these awareness campaigns and continue raising money towards eradicating period poverty. These are the kinds of efforts that we as an organization want to create more of, and the goal of this fundraiser is to help us do just that.

 

We hope you will share this campaign and, if inspired, please donate. Any amount makes all the difference. Help support Gen Zers like myself, who are fighting for equity and equality for all, especially people who look like me.

 

Let’s make it our job to ensure that this momentum and progress of our movements never die.

 

Image: (Oct. 24, 2020) West Orange Highschool's 1st all-female, all-POC Student Council cabinet posing for TNGCU's #MyRedStripes Campaign.

 

OTHER WAYS TO DONATE

If you'd prefer donating through an avenue other than GoFundMe, The Next Gen Come Up is also accepting donations via...

Cashapp: $thenextgencu

Venmo: @thenextgencu

 

When donating, feel free to leave us a note with our hashtag #FundTNGCU or #TheNextGenComeUp :)

 

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