Floyd Middle School Counselor Launches PJ Project

When Tanyika Butler, a Floyd Middle School counselor, recently turned 40, she decided that instead of getting gifts or having a party she was going to help children in foster care.

In lieu of gifts, her friends purchased PJs in kids sizes, and she collected 85 pairs.

Butler talked to Patch about her PJ project:

How did you come up with the idea for the project? 

This past year many of my friends turned 40 and they celebrated with either big parties or vacations. It wasn’t that I thought they were wrong, I just knew I wanted to do something different. I wanted to celebrate turning 40 by “paying it forward.” I tossed around many ideas. Then I thought about something my family does for Christmas. As a Christmas tradition we all get new pajamas to sleep in on Christmas Eve. Family members that come visit know to bring their new pajamas. I thought about how good it feels putting on our new pajamas. …and from that thought 40 for 40 was born. 

The hard part was getting the courage to post such an off-the-wall idea on Facebook. But I did! I posted that to celebrate my upcoming 40th birthday I wanted to collect pajamas to donate to foster care. I called it 40 for 40 because I wanted to collect 40 pairs of new pajamas in 40 days for my 40th birthday. I dream big, lol. The response was overwhelming and super positive. I actually received an order from Wal-Mart with four pairs of pajamas the very next day. That was confirmation that 40 for 40 would be a success.

How much did you collect? The grand total collected was about 85 pairs of pajamas. I received pajamas from as far north as Washington DC, as far west as Texas and as far south as Florida. As a result, I was able to give about 40 pairs (including socks, slippers and undershirts) to both Cobb DFACS  and Another Chance.

Is the project still ongoing? Yes, I am still receiving pajamas. I told DFACS they would be hearing from me in the future with more pajamas. I have had many friends tell me they will be celebrating upcoming milestone birthdays by “paying it forward.”

If so, how can folks help you? I work at Floyd Middle School as a School Counselor. They can drop them off at the school. (4803 Floyd Rd SW, Mableton, GA 30126)

I cannot think of a better way to have celebrated my 40th birthday than 40 for 40.