High School Students Raise Over $260,000 for Elderly Guardian to Retire

Three high school students from Calliesburg, Texas found out that an 80-year-old janitor at their school did not have enough money to retire, so they decided to help him.

The trio – Grayson Thurman, Marty Yusko, and Banner Tidwell – from Kallisburg High School launched a GoFundMe campaign on February 15, raising more than 8,000 donations totaling about $260,000. According to students, most of the donations came from students and staff at Kallisburg.

“It’s amazing,” said Kallisburg senior director Jason Hooper. said CBS KXII affiliate. “A need that was met thanks to three kind children – all of our students who made an effort to meet this need,” he said.

Kallisburg is a rural town near the Oklahoma border with a population of about 300 people. School district with annual budget worth $12.5 million, consists of two school campuses with approximately 1,150 students, 86 teachers, and 164 employees.

Mr James’ campaign went viral after Thurman posted video on TikTok, an octogenarian man cleans a hallway. The video was accompanied by ambient music and lyrics with a link to the GoFundMe page.

“This is our 80 year old janitor who had his rent raised and had to go back to work. Let’s help Mr James, ”the message says. “Nobody his age should clean up the mess after us to keep living.”

The video got almost 3500 likes and 250 comments. The students closed the GoFundMe campaign on Friday.

Hooper told CBS MoneyWatch that Mr. James, who didn’t want to reveal his full name, wants to stay out of the spotlight. The school hired James last month and shortly thereafter: “Our kids saw a need and went and filled it,” Hooper said.

Three students told KXII they felt compelled to help the guardian after he was forced out of retirement due to the rising cost of living in the north Texas area.

Mr. James is hardly alone. Indeed estimates that 1.5 million retirees have been forced to return to work due to high inflation. analysis US Department of Labor data. One in six retirees are considering returning to work in search of greater financial security, according to the study. survey published this month by Paychex.

Inflation forces pensioners to return to work 02:10

“It’s just so sad to see an 80-year-old man having to do something that no 80-year-old man should be doing,” Tidwell told KXII.

The money raised from the campaign is enough to send Mr. James back into retirement, Hooper told CBS MoneyWatch. The principal said he had not spoken to Mr. James about when he would leave the school, but “he is ready to retire and live a comfortable life.”

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