A rent increase forced an 80-year-old retiree to take a job as a janitor, now strangers have raised $28,000 for him.

CALLISBURG, TX – Cook County, Texas students have pledged to help an 80-year-old man forced to take a job as a janitor after retirement, and now his story is spreading across the country.

The man, known to students at Callisburgh ISD as Mr. James, raised his rent by about $400 a month and couldn’t make ends meet without returning to work.

Mr. James began working at Calliesburg High School in January after a career in another field.

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“He is hardworking. He’s an older man, so he doesn’t get around the way students do, but he’s a worker,” said Jason Hooper, Principal of Kallisburg High School.

Three students at the school heard his story and decided to do something about it.

“There was a discussion about this in class the other day, and my friend Banner and I were like, ‘You know what, we should start GoFundMe, you know what people are doing on TikTok, and it’s going viral,'” Callisburg Senior Specialist Marty Yusko said.

They asked Grayson Thurman, who has a large fan base on TikTok, to post about the campaign.

“I think God has called all of us to do this,” Thurman said. “As soon as I heard, ‘Grayson, you have to post this,’ something was heavy on my heart, telling me: Grayson, you have to do this, and if you don’t, these guys will continue to work here.”

A GoFundMe post titled “How to get Mr. James out of this school” quickly went viral.

The reaction to the story was huge.

“Being in a small town like Calliesburg, we knew that people would want to help and people would want to support us, especially in something like this, but I don’t think we ever imagined that there would be such news channels here.” Yusko said.

The teens set an initial goal of $10,000. The campaign raised over $28,000 in two days.

“When we told him, he was like, ‘Damn, it’s all right!'” Yusko said.

FOX 4 asked Mr. James for an interview. He refused, but did not mind having his story told to others.

“He doesn’t want to be the center of attention. He really appreciates what these students have done,” said Hooper.

“So cute like him deserves it. There is no doubt about that,” Yusko said.

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The students say the goal is to prepare Mr. James for life.

“I don’t think anyone should retire just to make ends meet,” Yusko said.

“No one deserves to work their whole life. They deserve to enjoy everything,” Thurman said.