The Walking Dead fans raise money for charity to honor Danai Gurira

The Walking Dead fans create fundraiser to raise money for a charity that helps women in honor of Danai Gurira’s birthday.

The Walking Dead fandom is known as TWDFamily and “family” is a pretty accurate name. Like any family there are squabbles and disagreements on the things that really matter fans support each other, and they support the cast.

Last year all of us here at UW were happy to raise awareness of a campaign started by one fan, Christina McDaniel, to raise money for Almasi Arts  in honor of Danai’s birthday. Christina was able to meet Danai at WSC and tell her about the fundraiser personally. This year we’re happy to support it again as a now-annual event.

A new fundraiser has been launched to support a fantastic cause: Her Justice. Her Justice provides free legal help to low income women in NYC, many of whom face major cultural and legal obstacles as they try to navigate the complicated legal processes of family, divorce, and immigration laws.

It’s a great cause that Danai supports and that her fans are raising money for in honor of her 41st birthday this February. Danai has a long history of supporting charities that empower women and encourage women to tell their stories. From her extensive work with Almasi Arts to her work as UN Goodwill Ambassador Danai uses her platform to uplift others and amplify the voices of those that usually go unheard.

She founded the Love Our Girls Pledge, which she hoped would turn her birthday, Valentine’s Day, into a day to raise awareness of the struggles of women and girls all over the world and to fight ignorance and injustice with love. There is no better way to honor the humanitarian work that she does and the inspiration that she brings than to help women who need it most.

You Can Donate Now

The fundraiser is open now and you can donate here.

The fundraiser organizer, Christina McDaniel, had this to say about this year’s fundraiser:

"Last year for Danai’s 40th we raised funds for her foundation, Almasi Arts, and when it was presented to her she was extremely grateful.  The support and birthday wishes she received from fans brought her to tears. So we decided to do it again! This year we wanted to kick-start a campaign that honors her organization Love Our Girls.Danai is the founder of LOGpledge.org, an awareness-building campaign focused on the plights of women and girls around the globe. Each month the newsletter highlights different organizations that work for women’s equality and fight to provoke real change by giving voice to injustices and providing services to women and girls in need. Her newsletter spotlights a nonprofit called Her Justice.Many women in the U.S. struggle with matters that range from child support to sexual violence with limited means to legal representation. Many of these women are living in poverty, survivors of domestic violence, and have no one else to turn to for assistance.The organization Her Justice allows these women to break away from these circumstances and rebuild their lives by leveraging volunteer lawyers from top law firms around New York City to provide legal aid.  Danai continues to work with organizations like these that help to empower and uplift women. She uses her platform to increase awareness of the struggles women face in our society.  I feel that we can show her that not only do we support her as an actress and playwright, but also her work in the community as an activist.This year we’ve also included a special incentive! Each person who donates will be entered into a drawing to receive a prize package! Details are on our fan account on Twitter."

Despite her incredible success with her original plays, her film career, and her central role on The Walking Dead Danai Gurira continues to be a role model and champion for women all over the world. There is no better way to show her how much she means to the TWDFamily than to donate to help HerJustice help empower women. Let’s make this fundraiser the largest one yet to honor the amazing work that Danai does for others.