They Didn't Just Send Boxes. They Sent People.

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 college scholars with monthly care packages, move-in support, and community. I'm TeeJ. Glad you're here.

Last move-in season, something happened at our Atlanta schools that still makes me smile.

But first, let me back up.

One of the things we've learned as Mafia has grown is how many gaps our scholars face that I never even thought about before. And I mean never. Because it was never my reality.

When I was at Howard, summer was easy. My Uncle Rosco lived 25 minutes from campus. My stuff went in his garage during my summers. Done. No stress. No logistics. Just...my reliable Uncle Rosco.

Our scholars don't have an Uncle Rosco.

When the school year ends and the dorms close, everything they own is in question. There's no family garage. No mom's spare room. No "just leave it here until August." For a student without a stable home, May is not just the end of the school year. It's a logistics crisis.
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Enter U-Haul College Boxes!!!!!

Their program is built specifically for college students. Before summer break, scholars get boxes and packing materials delivered to them. U-Haul picks everything up, stores it all summer, and delivers it right back to campus when they return. For a student with a family to go home to, it's convenient. For our scholars? It's everything.

This makes the second year that Sophia and her team at College Boxes will ride with us. And let me tell you... Sophia does NOT play when it comes to these babies.

One of our Clark Atlanta scholars said it better than I ever could. She was filling out her May care package request form where they are required to finish a sentence stem where she chose to tell us...

"I'm very thankful for Move-In Day Mafia and the College Boxes company for helping me to be able to move my stuff out safely and put it in storage so that I can come back to it."

I was so touched that we, through College Boxes, were able to give her that peace by taking one more stress off of her.

That is why this work matters. We fill gaps that others take for granted without even realizing it.

And then last move-in season... College Boxes took it even further.

At our Atlanta move-in, mixed in with our usual crew of volunteers, there were amazing men who looked like they'd come straight from a work shift, working with their strong hands. Work gear. Ready to move. Lifting heavy boxes up stairwells. Moving furniture. Hanging posters. Sweating right alongside everybody else in the brutal August heat.

Admittedly, this was new and I was intrigued. Who sent them? How did they end up here? How'd they here about us? Come to find out...

THE LOCAL U-HAUL SENT THEM! THEY WERE ACTUALLY MOVERS!

The local U-Haul had organized it. Sophia facilitates and coordinates everything on the College Boxes side, and she made sure her people showed up. Not just with boxes. With PEOPLE!

They send boxes so our kids don't lose their stuff over the summer. They gave us Sophia, who coordinates and organizes everything so it runs without a hitch. And now they send volunteers from their own team, from their own community, to stand next to us and move our scholars into dorms.

That is not a sponsor. That is a partner. And I love that for Mafia!

When people who don't look like our scholars, don't come from our community, don't share our specific experience... when they show up anyway, because someone at U-Haul said "go help"?

That is what it looks like when an organization actually believes in what we're doing.

Boots. On. The ground.

​Incredibly grateful to the College Boxes team and my new friends from the Atlanta location.

And if you have a college student in your life, whether they're in our program or not, go check them out. CollegeBoxes.com. These are good people doing good work and they deserve your business.

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:

Mafia Miracle Maker, I'll be honest with you.

I always knew corporate partners would come.

When I started Move-In Day Mafia, I had a picture in my head of what this thing would look like one day. Maybe five years in. Maybe ten. A real operation. Established. Proven. The kind of org that companies would want to attach their name to. I could see it out there in the distance.

I just didn't think it would happen this fast.

We were still figuring things out when U-Haul College Boxes came in. Still learning the gaps. Still discovering what our scholars actually needed once they got to campus. And here comes a national company saying: we see you, we believe in what you're doing, and we're all in.

I didn't go looking for them as a partner. I was simply investigating the cost. And God sent them. Early. Before I had the fancy deck. Before the track record was long. Before I felt "ready" for that kind of partnership.

My mind is still blown.

Because I thought I had at least five more years before something like this would happen. And God said: no, baby. Right now.
So whatever you're building right now, I need you to hear me. Don't put a timeline on when the right people will show up. Don't talk yourself out of the ask because you think you're not far enough along yet.

I want you to think about the partnership, the collaboration, the ask that you keep pushing to "someday." The one you're saving for when you feel more established. More credible. More ready.

Someday might show up sooner than you think.

Here's my question for you today: What's the call you keep almost making?

What's the partnership you've been circling? What's the ask you've been rehearsing in the shower but not saying out loud? What door are you standing in front of, telling yourself it's not for someone like you?

Make the call.

The worst they can say is no. And sometimes, they send people.

The world needs what happens when you stop waiting to be ready.

I'll see you next week but before I go...May's Adopt A Scholar Week kicked off yesterday. If you have the budget, please pop over to MoveInDayMafia.org/AdoptAScholar

Grab an item or two. It's summer for some of our scholars, and they are not on campus; some are even couch surfing, so you will find that some of our schools are only Visa Gift cards since Amazon delivery times can be unpredictable.
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Thank you for all you do and making Move-In Day Mafia your favorite charity.