Rhode Island college students raise over $24K to help security guard visit his family in Nigeria

Students at Providence College in Rhode Island have made a security guard’s wishes come true after they raised over $24,000 to help him travel back to Nigeria to visit his son and other family members.

According to WCVB, James, who the students described as their favorite person, has not seen his family in 11 years. The students ultimately decided to set up the GoFundMe after they became aware of that. And thanks to their effort, James now has the opportunity to finally visit his family in Nigeria.

“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,” sophomore student Daniel Singh said.

“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.”

Brandon Reichert, who is a freshman student, also showered praises on James, saying that he’s “just the kindest soul anyone has ever met in this building.”

“He means so much to us he’s so important,” Reichert added. “It was amazing how fast everyone connected and were able to put it together for him.”

Over $24,000 had been raised for James at the time of this report. Reichert and Singh told WCVB they aim to raise as much as possible so that James visiting his family back in Nigeria isn’t a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence.

“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,” Dean of Students Sean Sears said.