We had the good fortune of connecting with Driving Tomorrow and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Driving, what do you attribute your success to?
We believe the most important factor contributing to the success of our organization is the teamwork between our board members: Lucille Tagnon, Ria Rana, Surie Guo, and Sree Datla. Our team helps to organize the drives and fundraisers while also inspiring the rest of our community to donate their items. Our passion to work together has helped grow the fundraising drives into impactful initiatives, addressing disparities in educational materials and the school supply gap. Additionally, our winter-clothing drives have tackled issues of warmth in our suburban-rural Denton community. Without the dedication of our team members, along with the spirit of our community and their willingness to donate and become involved in our cause, we would not be able to be as successful as we are.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Outside of studying for classes and conducting research at the University of North Texas, our members enjoy helping out our community in any possible way. Driving Tomorrow is a nonprofit organization created by students for students. We aim to provide resources and supplies to surrounding North Texas communities in need. We host multiple supply drives and fundraisers throughout the year that provide essential community service and opportunities for others to get involved. Our fundraising drives typically last for months, and while it can be challenging at first to get people to donate their items, through constant advertising we’ve been able to reel in hundreds and thousands of items per drive. By the end of our drives, we see the culmination of our efforts take shape in loads of boxes packed to the brim to donate to local schools and shelters across the Denton community.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Our organization was created at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science, and our shoutout goes to each of the individuals who have donated or volunteered with us on any occasion and who inspire each other to donate their own belongings to create a change. Without the efforts and generosity from the students, faculty, and staff at TAMS, Driving Tomorrow would not be able to make the impact that we do. Since induction, we have offered over 3800 volunteer hours to our dedicated teams of students who have helped us organize our donations, distribute them to community centers, and inspire others to donate to our cause. Because of them, we have been able to raise over 75,000 total donations since 2017. 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drivingtmrw/?hl=en

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutDFW is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.