{"480421":{"#nid":"480421","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Students Pay It Forward With Holiday Surprise","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe holidays provide a great opportunity to pay it forward, and a group of Georgia Tech business students had the perfect recipient in mind.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022He is the most positive person, he brings so much energy to us everyday,\u0022 Conor Lange says of Marcus Burns, a security guard for the Scheller College of Business.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELange says Burns knows most of the students by name and brings candy to lift the students\u2019 spirits every Wednesday. They wanted to use the holiday season as an opportunity to say thanks.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ELange and a couple of classmates hoped they could pull together $100 to surprise Burns for the holidays. Once word got out of the plan, money started pouring in.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EStudents raised $1,600 in just over 24 hours. Dozens of Georgia Tech business students were on hand and the surprise was recorded by cellphone video.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cIt\u2019s not about the money,\u201d Lange said, handing a card to Burns. \u201cIt\u2019s about how many people donated to show you how much we appreciate you every day.\u0022\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe video has been viewed over 400,000 times on Georgia Tech\u2019s Facebook page.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIt has been shared by @GAFollowers on Twitter. Both the NBC and Fox television stations in Atlanta have shared the video as well, racking up over\u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.fox5atlanta.com\/news\/59519498-story\u0022\u003E 2 million more views through those outlets\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOn social media, the video prompted more stories of Marcus Burns\u2019s good deeds.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EOne Facebook comment reads: \u201cI saw this man everyday. Before interviews, before exams, before presentations \u2014 he always encouraged me and truly cares about the lives of the students that surround him.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAnother post reads: \u201cAwww I remember him! I got sick one day and he helped me to my car!\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBusiness student Caroline Cusick says the holiday surprise couldn\u2019t have gone to anyone better.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cI had tears in my eyes. I had goosebumps,\u201d Cusick says. \u201cYou see how much someone gives to you and if you can give back you see how it affects them, it\u2019s just really awesome.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EBurns told students that he planned to use the gift to take his family out for a fun night of dinner and bowling for the holidays.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cHe\u2019s really a role model,\u201d Lange says. \u201cI just hope I can make an impact on people like he has.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":[{"value":"Yellow Jackets thank security guard they say goes above and beyond daily"}],"field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech business students hoped to raise $100 to thank a security guard who often brightens their day. They surprised him with an even bigger amount, and showed the true spirit of the holiday season.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Georgia Tech business students use the holidays as a perfect opportunity to thank a security guard who brightens their day."}],"uid":"28058","created_gmt":"2015-12-22 12:25:34","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:12:50","author":"Steven Norris","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2015-12-22T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2015-12-22T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"480431":{"id":"480431","type":"image","title":"Georgia Tech Students Pay It Forward With Holiday Surprise","body":null,"created":"1451937600","gmt_created":"2016-01-04 20:00:00","changed":"1475895234","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:53:54","alt":"Georgia Tech Students Pay It Forward With Holiday Surprise","file":{"fid":"204186","name":"screen_shot_2015-12-18_at_3.56.02_pm.png","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-12-18_at_3.56.02_pm_0.png","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/screen_shot_2015-12-18_at_3.56.02_pm_0.png","mime":"image\/png","size":200684,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/screen_shot_2015-12-18_at_3.56.02_pm_0.png?itok=b4E-cK0n"}}},"media_ids":["480431"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"15278","name":"christmas"},{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"109","name":"Georgia Tech"},{"id":"270","name":"gift"},{"id":"171225","name":"great video"},{"id":"4104","name":"holiday"},{"id":"171226","name":"marcus burns"},{"id":"171227","name":"pay it forward"},{"id":"167089","name":"Scheller College of Business"},{"id":"197","name":"video"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[{"id":"71871","name":"Campus and Community"}],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESteven Norris\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESocial Media Manager, Georgia Tech\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["snorris@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}