Best Buy employees pool money together to surprise teen with Nintendo Wii

VALLEY STREAM, N.Y. (KTVU) - A group of employees at a Best Buy in Valley Stream, New York surprised an unsuspecting teen last week with a holiday gift-- a band new Nintendo Wii U gaming system.

The teen caught the attention of some employees because he was a frequent visitor to the store. 

Manager Rahiem Storr shared video of the giveaway on YouTube.

Storr wrote, "this kid came in every single day to play the display WiiU, the employees in this store saw an opportunity to make a child smile and did just that."

In the video, the teen appears speechless when presented with the gift.

A Best Buy spokeswoman told KTVU Fox 2 the teen "was truly shocked. He could barely believe it."

Employees dug into their own pockets and contributed to the $300 console, explained company spokeswoman, Boua Xiong in an email.

A member of the staff, Ken Fernandez helped orchestrate the surprise, according to Xiong.

Xiong said Fernandez was reminded of what it was like to be a kid with a gift wish. 

"Ken said one of the reasons he kick-started this generous gesture (along with his colleagues) is because he loved gaming growing up, but didn’t have a console as a kid. So, knowing that this customer didn’t have a Wii U at home, he wanted to give that gift of gaming," Xiong said.

Since the video was posted on Dec. 7, it has been viewed more than 1.5 million times.