 Oooooooweeee. This is the kind of news I would normally text to HER first. But today? I need y'all to know too. I finally got it. I finally got the confirmation. My girl Sherri Shepherd is coming back to perform at Theeee HBCU Bingo Xperience on Saturday, July 11, 2026 at the Morrow Center in Atlanta. She is bringing a live comedy set to that stage. And if you know Sherri...she won't just stay on it. AND before General Admission doors even open, she will be at the Miracle Maker VIP Reception for a private meet and greet. Tickets are limited for that. So grab 'em if you want to be in that room. ==MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo== She Ain't New to This. She's True to This. Now let me tell you why Sherri saying yes hits different. She is a Day One Mafia Supporter. She's watched me build this thing from the ground up. So we've developed a rhythm. If I send Sherri a text that starts with "OMG OMG OMG OMG," she knows to sit down. Because what will follow is another unbelievable God move. Sherri Shepherd is not a celebrity we booked. She believes in the mission wholeheartedly. She is our Mafia Ambassador. Has been loooooong before there was the first dorm room move-in at Paul Quinn in 2022. Loooooong before there was structure. Looooooong before there were pillars that represented H.U.G.S. (Hope + Understanding + Generosity = Stability) Before the Morrow Center. Before 250 people in one room. Before any of this made sense to anybody but me. She was watching. Texting back. Praying. Using her platform.  And she has been putting her whole self behind this mission. Like when she went on Celebrity Jeopardy. She knew going in that Jeopardy was not her thing. She said as much. But she knew her appearance would bring Mafia $30,000. And she showed up anyway. We laugh still to this day, because she finished with $75. Talked about it on her own show like it was the funniest thing that ever happened to her. (It kind of was.) But guess what? Move-In Day Mafia got our $30,000! Plus, donations that are still coming in to this day!  Then came the Christmas episode of Celebrity Family Feud. Now, this was more of her speed. She was supposed to hit the buzzer. She hit the mic instead. Lost to Shaquille O'Neal. LawdHamMussyGeezus! But guess what THAT "loss" got us: $25,000 more for MIDM scholars!!!!! And Steve Harvey standing on national television saying the words "Move-In Day Mafia" to millions of people. Yeah...More donations. I'm still mindblown. And then last year? She showed up at HBCU Bingo Xperience 2025. She lit that stage on fire and had people doing hold your stomach, slap your neighbor-I can't breathe laughter. She danced. She laughed. She did a meet and greet. This year, we genuinely didn't think her schedule would allow it. She made it happen anyway. That is Sherri Shepherd. Daytime Emmy winner. NAACP Image Award Winner. The View. 30 Rock. The Sex Lives of College Girls. Straw. Her own talk show. A woman whose calendar is not easy to get on. She moved things around and said yes. Again. THE XPERIENCE! Think sneaker ball meets HBCU Homecoming... with a Bingo twist. Sherri brings the laughs with a live comedy set. The Red Sample Band returns and if you were there last year, you already know their HBCU sound immediately transports you back to the yard. Remember the Best Buy Blizzard where people grabbed money literally out of the air? This year we have the Delta Cash Dash and it is giving the same energy. There is also the Amazon Deck the Dorm competition where strangers become teammates racing to furnish a whole dorm room against the clock. D9 strolls. HBCU anthems. Prizes that will have people walking out shaking their heads in the best possible way. And you don't have to be an HBCU alum to have the time of your life. You just have to love a great night and a great cause. At some point in the evening, you will meet two of our scholars. Live. In that room. Not a video. Not a slide. THEM. You will look them in the eye and know exactly who you showed up for. Get Your Tickets Before the VIP Spots Are Gone General Admission starts at $107 in honor of the original 107 HBCUs. VIP Miracle Maker tickets include premium reserved seating, a swag bag, a drink ticket, and the private meet and greet with Sherri before the night even starts. Those spots will go. Do not wait and then be sad about it. ==MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo== Saturday, July 11, 2026. Morrow Center. Atlanta, GA. 7pm. (VIP at 6pm) Theeee HBCU Bingo Xperience.    "Last year's Bingo stressed me tf out. Sign me up again." — Dr. Brandi Rae Hicks  And she wasn't lying. Dr. Brandi is the one standing, having aaaaaalll the fun.  And get this...she was celebrating someone else's win. Check out her joy on the left side.  But wait... If you are new here... welcome to the Mafia Miracle Report. Every week I share what is happening inside Move-In Day Mafia, a nonprofit that supports foster care/kindship care and unhoused college scholars at HBCUs with dorm room makeovers, care packages, move-in support, and community. I'm TeeJ, the founder and I'm glad you're here. Now back to Dr. Brandie's joy. She did not have to testify like that. Nobody asked. She just... did it. And I screenshotted it immediately because THAT is exactly what last year's Bingo was. It was stressful in the best possible way. It was loud. It was full. It was a room full of strangers who turned into teammates who turned into family. All for scholars they had never met. THE BOUGIE A$$ BINGO IS BACK Officially? It's called Theeee HBCU Bingo Xperience. Saturday, July 11, 2026. 7pm. Atlanta. 👉🏽 MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo And the best part? You don't have to be an HBCU alum to have a great time. You just have to be willing to lean into joy, love the Mafia mission, and be ready to win big just like Chris here.  If you were there last year, you already know what you signed up for. And if you weren't? Let me tell you what you missed. It was OFF. THE. CHAIN. Sherri Shepherd brought the funny in her comedy set. The Best Buy Blizzard, where people were grabbing money literally OUT OF THE AIR. The Amazon Deck the Dorm competition, where strangers became teammates trying to furnish a whole dorm room against the clock.  The D9 strolling. HBCU-themed Bingo cards. HBCU anthems blasting and every single person in that room just... feeling it. Together. And then there was a moment nobody saw coming. I'm still not telling. 😏 This year? We are going... BIGGER VENUE. BIGGEST FUN! A silent auction. Surprises I cannot talk about yet. Prizes that are gonna make people walk out shaking their heads in the best way. Now. If you want the FULL experience? The Miracle Maker VIP Reception is where your night starts. Before General Admission even walks through the door, you are already inside. Premium reserved seating. Extra bingo cards. A swag bag. A caricature artist. An exclusive VIP-only game. Early access. All of it. It is A. WHOLE. THING. And at some point in the evening? You are going to meet two of our scholars. Live. In that room. Not a video. Not a slide. Them. Look them in the eye and know exactly who you showed up for. General Admission is $107. Not a random number. In honor of the original 107 HBCUs. Every ticket is intentional. Here is the one thing I need you to do right now. Early bird pricing ends June 19. Juneteenth. After that, the price goes up. VIP is limited and it will sell out. Do not wait and then be sad about it later.  Last year it was over 250 people in one room with one mission. Having the absolute time of their lives. For scholars who needed every single one of them to show up. That is what this is. That is what YOU are a part of. 👉🏽 MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo Oh...one more thing. If you and your crew are already talking about coming, grab a table before Early Bird ends on June 19th (Juneteenth.) A General Admission table seats 8 people for $756, which means your per-person cost drops to $94.50. VIP tables seat 8 for $1,476. Either way, you are saving money AND you get to experience the whole night together. Companies, sororities, fraternities, friend groups, coworkers who actually like each other... this is your move. Get your table secured before they're gone. 👉🏽 MoveInDayMafia.org/HBCUBingo  Every month when our scholars submit their care package requests, they have to finish a sentence. They choose one: “I’m grateful that…” “I’m excited that…” “I’m looking forward to…” So we like to share some with you:   What I'm about to tell you... I did not tell many people last year until Bingo was over. 48 hours before THEE HBCU Bingo Xperience, I was in a near-fatal car accident. I only told the people who absolutely needed to know because I was not about to let anyone talk me out of showing up. We had worked too hard. Too many people were counting on that night. So I showed up. On a lot of pain meds. Smiling. Because the adrenaline from having walked away was still doing its job. The fallout didn't hit until the day after, when the adrenaline wore off. Wanna hear something wild? While they were trying to get me out of the car, a bystander started yelling that gospel music was still playing in my car. Pastor Mike Jr.'s song, "Proof" had come on the radio. And when I realized it, my brain locked in on one line. "You want to see a miracle? Look at me." That is why that was my Bingo entrance song. Now here is the wild part. Despite a blackout during our setup because someone hit a transformer and knocked the electricity out for the whole block... despite the AC breaking in the VIP room and us scrambling to move everyone out of a 90-degree room... despite nobody remembering to tell the guests they could eat so they were hungry... despite ALL of that... We still had 250 people having the time of their lives. We still got Dr. Brandi Rae Hicks saying she was stressed out of her mind and signing up again anyway. I was a walking miracle at that event. Literally. And the whole night felt like one too.
Here is what I need you to take with you. There is something you have been sitting on. A business. A conversation you keep putting off. A dream you told yourself you'd start when the timing was better. When you felt more ready. When the risk felt smaller. I need you to hear me when I say this: the conditions will never be perfect. Your version of the transformer blowing. Your version of the AC breaking. Your version of showing up anyway on fumes. Do it anyway. Because on the other side of YOUR scared is something you will not believe. And the people who need YOU to show up are already waiting. Do not wait until you are ready. Ready is a myth. Willing is what moves mountains. Now go move yours. |
AuthorTEEJ MERCER - TeeJ never set out to be an entrepreneur. She definitely didn’t plan to run a nonprofit. But after 25 years in Hollywood, editing and producing for major TV shows and movie studios, she saw a story that needed to be told. More importantly, she saw a PROBLEM that needed to be solved. Archives
July 2026
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