Callisburg High School students have raised more than $270,000 for their 80-year-old janitor, referred to as Mr James, so he can retire. The fundraiser was created by Greyson Thurman, Marti Yusko and Banner Tidwell, three students at the school, after Mr James had to come out of retirement due to a rent hike.
The trio set up a GoFundMe page with the goal of $10,000 to cover Mr James’ rent, food, and monthly bills. However, the response was overwhelming and the campaign received $270,905 from more than 8,600 donors.
Greyson also posted a TikTok video on his 2,000 followers encouraging people to donate. The video showed the school custodian pushing his cleaning trolley through the halls, with the text that read, “This is our 80 y/o janitor who had his rent raised and had to come back to work. Let’s help Mr James out.”
@grey.thurman Go fund me is in the bio! My classmates and I hate seeing Mr. James here, no one his age should have to be cleaning our messes up to continue to live. #fyp#school#gofundme#fy#mrjames ♬ snowfall – Øneheart & reidenshi
The campaign concluded earlier this week and since then, the school principal Jason Hooper has expressed his admiration for the students. Hooper said, “It’s just amazing. You know of the need that was met because of three kind kids, but of all of our students who have pitched in to help that need.”
Since the fundraiser began, Mr James has been able to return to retirement and he has expressed his gratitude for the students. In an update to the GoFundMe page, Greyson posted a picture of the trio alongside Mr James and said, “Thanks so much to everyone that has donated and spread the word to help Mr. James. You all have made a huge impact on him that will forever change his life.”
