A heartwarming story from Providence College in Rhode Island restores faith in humanity.
The security guard at Providence College’s Raymond Hall in Rhode Island, James, received a pleasant surprise from the students.
Due to his friendly nature, some students at the college would speak to him and learned that he had not visited his native country, Nigeria, nor seen his kid and family for the last 11 years.
The students, who had become friends with James, felt sorry for him and decided to raise money to help him visit his family.
One of the students set up a Go Fund Me page for him, explaining in detail about his thoughtful nature and strong work ethic.
The Go Fund Me page states, James is “truly one of the nicest people you will ever meet.”
The students also wrote about his friendly nature, noting how he always greets everyone with a smile no matter the time of night and loves to have a chat anytime.
In order to show their gratitude towards him and how much he means to their community, they thought of creating the GoFundMe page.
SIMILAR: Read about this kind woman who created a Facebook page to help a legally blind man.
To their surprise, just one day after creating the fundraiser on February 29, they had raised $3,000. They gave James the money they had raised on the website on March 6.
Later on, the students shared a picture of themselves handing over the collected funds to a visibly shocked James, with his hands over his mouth.
One of the students involved in setting up the Go Fund Me page, freshman Brandon Reichert, described James to WCVB as “one of the kindest souls anyone has ever met in this building.”
The students quickly came together to support the good cause, showing James’s importance and popularity in the college.
A sophomore resident advisor, Daniel Singh, told WJAR that he had to hold back his tears as he handed over the money to the guard collected from the page.
Reichert was also excited and shared his joy about successfully raising money for James’s visit to Nigeria in June of this year.
He also thanked each and every donor for their contribution and how much it means to them and the guard.
Dean of Students, Steven Sears told ABC 6 of James, “What is so special is the impact he has had on all of us.”
When James was asked his thoughts about all the students and the ones who helped raise money, he said that “he is praying for them, he is praying for their success, and that God watches over them.”
As of Saturday afternoon, the GoFundMe has raised more than $15,000. According to Reichert, all the extra funds received through the GoFundMe will be used to finance James’s future trips to Nigeria.
