Not everyone is can retire at 60.
Every worker dreams of their retirement.
It is that sweet moment of finally stopping and letting yourself enjoy the result of your hard work.
However, not everyone is lucky to experience retirement at the right time.
Because of circumstances and the need for financial support, elderly people who are beyond 60 are still choosing to continue to work.
And while the world is now open to letting the elderly work as much as they want, it is still concerning that folks as old as 80 are still employed to put food on the table.
James Gailey, also known as Mr. James, is the school janitor of Callisburg High School in Texas and is still working at 80.
The elderly man’s house rent has been raised, and he had no other option but to continue working despite his age.
The students at the school have known him for years and are concerned about his well-being.
A person his age should be relaxed and not go to work every day.
Because of their genuine care for the old man, Greyson Thurman, Marti Yusko, and Banner Tidwell thought of a way to help him out.
The three of them started a campaign to help Mr. James retire.
They posted a clip of him pushing his cart of cleaning materials inside the school and wrote:
“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!”
Along with the TikTok post, Greyson also created a GoFundMe page for the old man to raise funds amounting to $10,000, which they think is a big help with Mr. James’ retirement.
The students were shocked to see how viral it went.
The school and the student body supported their campaign, along with thousands of people online who saw their video. The page was able to raise over $270,000 in total!
The three students could not believe how much they had raised for the kind old man.
It only took 12 hours for them to achieve their initial goal.
Donations kept flying in, and they were blown away by the incredible online response.
People were willing to help the elderly janitor, which made the students happy.
“It’s just so sad seeing an 80-year-old man having to do things that no 80-year-old person should have to do,” Banner shared in an interview with KXII.
After hitting their target and finding a way to help, the trio feels happy and fulfilled.
Helping out truly has rewards that money can’t buy.
“It’s just amazing,” said Principal Jason Hooper, ”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.”
Everyone was awed by the students’ genuine concern for the janitor. These teens are inspiring, indeed.
Find out more about this story by watching the video below.
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