Coppell teens form nonprofit to battle poverty and provide storm aid

The extreme poverty that Dhruv Nanda witnessed during visits to his parents’ native India inspired him as a child to want to help the needy.

But it was years before the Coppell teen recognized that people much closer to home were also lacking food, water and shelter.

“I am privileged to be born in the U.S., and I lived within my own bubble,” says Dhruv, 17.

“I wasn’t really aware that these issues exist within the U.S. until I started paying attention to them, and I realized many people are denied these basic necessities.”

This past winter break at school, he established Mission Tomorrow, registering the nonprofit using forms from legalzoom.com. Its 501(c)(3) status is pending.

Dhruv’s like-minded younger brother, Vansh, joined as co-founder and vice president, and they recruited three board members who are also passionate about social causes.

“I want to make a change because I have the ability to do so,” says 15-year-old Vansh.

Mission Tomorrow is focused on filling basic needs and planting trees, and the severe winter storms in February crystalized its first initiative: providing bottled water to people who lost running water because of burst pipes.

Mission Tomorrow has already supplied 32,000 bottles to hundreds of families at four separate events at food pantries in Oak Cliff, Lancaster and Irving.

“The main thing I noticed working with food pantries is that water is scarce when it comes to donations, but it’s still something that people need,” Dhruv says.

“Dhruv and his brother are very committed young men,” says Sonjia Dickerson, pastor at Dayspring Family Church, one of the recipients of the brothers’ efforts.

“Their care for the community and willingness to partner with our church were very refreshing. They show us the power we all have when we see a need and work to fill it in collaboration with entities with similar missions. I know there are great things ahead for both of them.”

The boys lined up gifts of bottled water from PepsiCo, Costco and Nestle simply by emailing.

“I searched the communication heads on LinkedIn and reached out to people based in Dallas,” Dhruv says.

“I sent probably 100 emails and got about 10 replies. Even one is a good accomplishment.”

Dhruv attends DISD’s School for the Talented and Gifted in Oak Cliff as an out-of-district applicant, and Vansh is a sophomore at Coppell High School.

“It feels really amazing to use the extra time I have to help people who are not as privileged as me,” Dhruv says.

Details

To learn more and donate, visit missiontomorrow.org.