Security guard left in tears as students raise $30k to help him visit his family after 11 years

When the students from the Raymond Hall campus of Providence College learned that their favorite security guard, James Mogaji, hadn’t met his family in Nigeria for 11 years, they stepped forward for help. As per ABC-affiliated WCVB-TV, Brandon Reichert, a freshman student from the college, created a GoFundMe page in February to organize a fundraising campaign for James. The students were able to raise nearly $3,000 within the first 24 hours, and over $30,000 altogether. When they surprised James with the money to visit his family, he broke down in tears. 

On March 1, Brandon requested his friends and followers on X (formerly Twitter) to help him raise funds for James. "Any donation is appreciated," he wrote in his post, in which he also added a link to the fundraising page. The GoFundMe page was titled “Help James Visit His Family," and on it, Brandon explained why James mattered so much to all of them. “James is without a doubt the best security guard here at Providence College. He works four overnight shifts a week. For those of you who don't know James, he truly is one of the nicest people you will ever meet. He greets everybody with a smile and always welcomes conversations no matter what time of the night you run into him. He has expressed how much he enjoys his job here at PC, and we would love to be able to allow him to visit his family. He does not know how much we appreciate him, and hope that this shows to him how much he means to our community," it read.

When the students handed the money to the security guard, he got emotional and couldn't stop sobbing. It was a heartwarming sight, and for a moment, the students and James felt like a family. 

Brandon posted an update on the page, saying, “Tonight, we were able to gift James with enough money for him to travel to Nigeria to visit his family in June! I’d like to thank everyone who donated as you can see what an impact you made on such an incredible man. All further donations will be given to James at the end of the school year in May to fund another trip!”

Showering James with praises, Brandon added, "He's just the kindest soul anyone has ever met in this building. He means so much to us he's so important. It was amazing how fast everyone connected and were able to put it together for him." The other student who helped organize this campaign with Brandon was Daniel Singh. Once they had organized the campaign, they walked to James and sophomore student Daniel revealed the plan to him, "You told us a while ago that you wanted to see your family in Nigeria that you haven’t seen in a long time, so we came together and spread the word, and we started a GoFundMe because we take care of our own because that’s what we do at Providence College. They've done that for me, we've done that for each other, so now we're doing it for you. You're of the family, so our gift to you is a trip to Nigeria."

James was overwhelmed by this gesture of generosity and love and so was the Dean of Students, Sean Sears. He said, "Tears to my eyes. Such an act of kindness. It was such a great reminder of the good our Friars are bringing into the world and a great reminder of how we can all do a small act of kindness every day that can make a difference." James also thanked each and every student from the bottom of his heart. 

A man named Leah Quinn (@lkquinnco), who claimed to be a friend of Brandon's mom, shared the whole video of the surprise on TikTok. He sang praises of the college student and called him "the most incredibly kind, thoughtful and generous soul." He added: "This act of kindness shows us all, that we are more alike than not. Brandon’s ability to always do the right thing and lead, show compassion and gratitude has been a highlight of my life watching him grow up into the amazing young man he is."

Quinn also mentioned Brandon's mother, who raised him alone, for "shaping him to be everything he is" today. It read: "I want to give Jess Reichert all the respect in the world for raising this boy as a single mother and shaping him to be everything he is. For the countless sacrifices she has and continues to make and the obstacles she endures to make sure he has every opportunity to continue on his path that we all could learn from as parents. This is also your payoff Jessie, everything that boy is, is ALL because of you! I am so proud to be your friend! I love you both so much!"

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 20, 2024. It has since been updated.