I Lost My Mind in Pajama Pants…And 26 Scholars Got Big Smiles

Hey Mafia Miracle Makers!!!

If you’ve ever needed proof that miracles can look loud, funny, faithful, and practical all at the same time…

Pull up a chair.

Because I have been sitting on this for MONTHS.

Not because it wasn’t exciting.
Not because it wasn’t a miracle.

But because so much life kept happening back-to-back, I didn’t get the chance to sit still long enough to tell it properly until now.

And now...

I can finally tell you the whole story.
People who know me know this about me…

I LOVE a good surprise.

So a few months ago, I hopped on what I thought was a regular ol’ strategy call with our partners at Best Buy. Nothing dramatic. Just planning, impact, logistics. The usual.

Mind you, this is a company that had already given Move-In Day Mafia $30,000 and had been showing up with real care and real People Power.

We’re wrapping up the call, feeling good.

And then our project lead casually slides in,
“TeeJ, I actually have more good news for you.”

I froze.

Like…FROZE.

And then he starts telling me about what they were gifting to each of our incoming students for the 2025-26 school year.

Y’all.

I jumped out of my chair so fast I scared myself.

Thank GOD I had on pajama pants, because what followed was all of this booty sprinting around the room in disbelief, praise, and pure joy.

And here’s the part that made me stop and just shake my head…

That pajama-pants moment wasn’t just funny.

It was the payoff of a ten-year desire.


OH WAIT…IF YOU’RE NEW HERE

If you’re new here, Move-In Day Mafia is rooted in H.U.G.S.

Hope. Understanding. Generosity. Stability.

We’re the crew that moves HBCU students who have aged out of foster care, are unhoused, or fighting financial challenges into their dorms and surrounds them with family for four years.

This right here?

This is what H.U.G.S. looks like in real life.


THE SURPRISE I DIDN'T SEE COMING

Mafia Miracle Maker...I am jumping up and down...

Best Buy provided BRAND-NEW VR HEADSETS FOR ALL 26 OF OUR 2025-26 MOVE-IN DAY MAFIA SCHOLARS!!!!

Let me pause right here, because I need to make sure you understand why this is not just a BIG deal but a HUGE deal.

A VR headset is not a toy.

It’s not a video game distraction.

It’s not extra.

It’s access.

It’s stepping inside careers before you ever apply.

It’s walking through places you’ve only ever seen in books.

It’s learning in full color and dimension when education has always been flat and limited.

It’s a reminder that says, “You belong in these spaces too.”

And here’s the part that still gets me…

Some of our scholars had never owned a piece of technology like this before.

And now?

They EACH have one.

Not shared.
Not borrowed.
Not rotated.

THEIRS.

And when it came time for the room reveals?

I saved the headsets for last.

​Because LOOK at these faces.

Seeing deserving students receive a want, not just a need?

Facilitating these with other Mafia Miracle Makers???

Is this really my job?!


THE BACKSTORY TO THE MIRACLE
​
Back in 2016, I started saying something that sounded completely delusional at the time. I even turned it into a hashtag:
#BestBuyIsMySponsorTheyJustDontKnowItYet

I said it for TEN YEARS nonstop.

Not because I had a pitch.
Not because I had a proposal.
Not because I even knew what I wanted them to sponsor.

All I knew waaaaaas...

Best Buy was my favorite store, and somehow…we were gonna ride together someday.

Fast forward to "someday" in 2023.

I found out that one of my Facebook friends worked at Best Buy corporate. What I didn’t know at the time was that she had been quietly, strategically putting Move-In Day Mafia’s name in front of the right people.

Then one day, I got a call that started with,
“TeeJ…are you sitting down?”

Followed by,
“BEST BUY IS GOING TO GIVE MOVE-IN DAY MAFIA $10,000.”

That delusional declaration I had whispered for a decade?

It came true.

But it didn’t stop there.

In 2024, Best Buy came back and DOUBLED IT.

They didn’t just bring dollars either. They brought People Power. If you saw them at Morehouse, Clark Atlanta, Spelman, or Miles College, you already know. They weren’t there for photo ops.

They were moving furniture.

Mopping dorm room floors.

Hanging pictures.

​Doing the gritty work with quiet excellence.

Last week, we told you about E.Z., our sophomore at Savannah State, who experienced a stroke earlier this month.

​She’s incredibly young for something like that, and while we’re still waiting on full clarity around her long-term prognosis, this update brought real relief.

She’s grateful.
She’s encouraged.
She’s feeling the love.

And that matters.


A QUICK CELEBRATION BREAK

Last weekend, while half the country was iced over, we had a little fun called #DonateYourTemperature.

You checked the temperature where you live and donated that amount.

So if it was 52 degrees…$52.

If it were 9 degrees…yes, $9. We saw you 😄

And for my people in negative temperatures (because absolutely not)…

We told you to donate the temperature you wished it was.

Y’all showed up.

Donations ranged from $9 to $100, and every dollar helped support our scholars.

​So it’s only right that we announce the winner…

There's a #IBelieveInMiraclesForMoveInDayMafia shirt headed your way.

Thank you to everybody who played along and gave with joy.

Last week, we talked about hurdles, and I kept thinking about it all this week.

So let me tell you something I probably shouldn’t admit, but here we are.

For YEARS, getting out the house to exercise in the morning felt like a mental obstacle course. I’d spend more time trying to motivate myself than actually moving.

That changed when I stopped relying on motivation and put in a fail-safe.

Now I sleep in my workout clothes.

And if I don’t, I lay them on the floor in front of the toilet...yup, you read that right...

When I get up half-sleep for that morning release, I put my workout clothes on automatically while I'm sitting there.

No brushing teeth.
No washing my face.
No checking my phone.

Judge me if you want.

But by the time my brain wakes up, I’m already out the door.

Here’s the motivation...
Sometimes the hurdle isn’t the lack of strength.
It’s friction.
And the miracle isn’t motivation.
It’s doing what you gotta do to clear the hurdle.
No matter what anybody thinks.

If this story stirred something in you, help us keep showing up for the scholars still running.

Support the work at:
MoveInDayMafia.org/Donate and/or share this edition.

Next week, I can't wait to tell you what surprise Cisco and another nonprofit called Human I-T pulled off to produce more spontaneous smiles.

Let’s just say…I'm grinning in anticipation of writing this evidence of "Miracles In Motion."

Thank you for being family.
Thank you for showing up big.
Thank you for believing with us.

Hug yourself for me!

– TeeJ

​#MiraclesInMotion