A GoFundMe that popped up last week features the rather ominous title "Getting Mr. James out of this school." It's not an attempt to see a teacher or staff member fired, however—instead, it's an effort by high school students in North Texas to help their school's elderly janitor retire for good. FOX 4 reports that "Mr. James" (who's declined to be more fully identified) had actually already retired, but at the beginning of the year his rent suddenly shot up by about $400 a month, and the 80-year-old decided to go back to work so he could get by.
And so he took a custodian job at Callisburg High School, which is where three students got wind of Mr. James' plight. They decided to do something about it, launching the GoFundMe and doing a social media push to promote the fundraiser. "Let's help Mr. James out!" student Greyson Thurman wrote as a caption on a short TikTok video he shared. "I have 2,000 followers and that was enough to get the word out," Thurman said, per KXII, which noted most of the donations that poured in during the first 12 hours were from students. As of Thursday morning, the GoFundMe for "rent, food, & monthly bills," which had originally set a goal of $10,000, had surpassed $180,000.
"Nobody deserves to work their whole life," Thurman says, per FOX 4. "They deserve to enjoy everything." Jason Hooper, the high school's principal, says he's proud of not only the "three kind kids" who started the fundraiser, "but of all of our students who have pitched in to help that need." As for Mr. James, he's "very appreciative" of the students' assistance, but he "doesn't want any part of the spotlight," says Hooper, per People. The school district also notes that, as of Wednesday, Mr. James hadn't handed in any kind of notice that he's leaving. (More uplifting news stories.)
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