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High school students raise $260,000 for an elderly janitor forced out of retirement due to rising costs
American Thinker ^ | 02/26/2023 | Rajan Laad

Posted on 02/26/2023 5:19:36 AM PST by SeekAndFind

He is known to the students of Callisburg High School as Mr. James. 

Callisburg is a rural town in Texas, near the Oklahoma border, and has a population of roughly 300 people.

Mr. James is an octogenarian retiree who recently fell on hard times. His rent was raised by $400 which would make survival simply impossible on his existing savings.

But he didn’t complain or look for handouts.

Instead, he abandoned retirement, put on his work shoes, and joined Callisburg High School as a janitor. He had a career in a different field previously.

Mr. James quickly developed a reputation for being a dedicated and hard worker.

His plight was noticed by a group of students who took it upon themselves to take concrete measures to help Mr. James.

Senior students Greyson Thurman, Marti Yousko, and Banner Tidwell started a GoFundMe campaign to help Mr. James.

Greyson Thurman, who has a decent following of 2,000 on TikTok, uploaded a video on that platform that depicted Mr. James's day at work.

Senior students Greyson Thurman, Marti Yousko, and Banner Tidwell started a GoFundMe campaign to help Mr. James.

Greyson Thurman, who has a decent following of 2,000 on TikTok, uploaded a video on that platform that d'epicted Mr. James's day at work.

Accompanying the video was a text stating Mr. James's circumstances and a link to the GoFundMe campaign entitled, ‘Getting Mr. James out of this school.’ 

In a matter of hours, the campaign became a sensation on social media.

The initial target of $10,000 was achieved in just 12 hours in just two days -- $30,000 was raised. Currently, the amount is an amazing $270,905 from 8,600 donors.

The students closed the GoFundMe campaign last Friday.


(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Education; Society
KEYWORDS: inflation; janitor; retirement
In this desert of despair, the story of high school students using the internet to help the less fortunate is heartwarming.

It is also great that this act of compassion is being celebrated by the national media.

The students deserved to be honored, awarded, and rewarded.

But while kindness is celebrated, we must not forget that Mr. James isn’t the only one who was forced to return to work at a ripe old age.

An estimated 1.5 million retirees have had to rejoin the workforce, according to an analysis of U.S. Department of Labor data. About 1 in 6 retirees is considering returning to work in search of greater financial security, according to a survey published this month. 

Joe Biden's catastrophic misgovernance which has caused record-breaking inflation is responsible for this heartbreaking situation.

When Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, President Trump handed him an inflation rate of merely 1.6%. In just over two years, Biden has ruined the fruits of President Trump's sterling work.

Inflation currently stands at 6.5%, on the year, and 13.7% since Biden took office.

It has reached a point where a respectable news outlet is urging people to skip breakfast, which health experts say is the most important meal of the day, to combat inflation.

While people are struggling to survive, the government is showing very little concern for the abject hardships they have caused. In fact, the government is apathetically looking the other way and supporting everyone but those whose lives they have ruined.

1 posted on 02/26/2023 5:19:36 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Students from Callisburg High School in Texas are raising money to help an 80 year old custodian make ends meet.


2 posted on 02/26/2023 5:22:00 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Really sweet story, thanks.


3 posted on 02/26/2023 5:24:29 AM PST by 9YearLurker
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To: SeekAndFind

“While people are struggling to survive, the government is showing very little concern for the abject hardships they have caused.”

This is the direct result of allowing wealth sovereigns to be involved in government and politics.


4 posted on 02/26/2023 5:26:56 AM PST by TheDon (Resist the usurpers)
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To: SeekAndFind

Thing is, it’s better for most folks to keep working to 72 (I suppose it’s 73 now) than it is to run out of money in their 80s and try to work then. Unless, of course, one has a government job in something like law enforcement or the military where retirement is enabled at a much earlier age.


5 posted on 02/26/2023 5:30:30 AM PST by PAR35
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To: PAR35

RE: Thing is, it’s better for most folks to keep working to 72 (I suppose it’s 73 now) than it is to run out of money in their 80s

That is of course, if there are businesses that still want to hire you at that age.


6 posted on 02/26/2023 5:37:31 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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Help Needed
7 posted on 02/26/2023 5:42:51 AM PST by deport
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To: SeekAndFind

“Greyson, Marti, and Banner”

I guess Jane, Mary and Robert just don’t cut it anymore?

Kind of Whitey McWhite.

Now, LaKeisha, Sha’kwonda and B’riandre would make for a different story


8 posted on 02/26/2023 5:48:52 AM PST by Macoozie (Handcuffs and Orange Jumpsuits)
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To: SeekAndFind

This is exactly how people were helping take care of each other before ‘social security ‘

When SS was first created, the payments started at age 65 but the average life expectancy wad 59 for men and 64 for women. It was a 15% across the board money grab


9 posted on 02/26/2023 5:58:03 AM PST by Mr. K (No consequence of repealing Obamacare is worse than Obamacare)
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To: SeekAndFind

Would this be taxable, and if so at what rate?


10 posted on 02/26/2023 6:20:18 AM PST by GMMC0987
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To: SeekAndFind
Few people can work into and beyond age 80.

The government obliterated much of peoples' savings in 2008 and again in 2020 by their lack of regulation of the financial sector in 2008, and by playing with bioweapons and China, causing an epidemic and then mismanaging the fallout.

You would have to be a hell of an investor to make money for retirement if, every 10 years or so, the government obliterated 20-30 percent of your savings by malfeasance.

Add in the pernicious effects of inflation and crazy-high taxes on everything we earn, use, and buy, and the government essentially forces poverty on you from cradle to grave.

That's if you work and pay taxes.

If, on the other hand, you are a member of the crybaby minority/illegal alien/parasite class, you can be lazy and live just about as well as someone who works like a dog.

It's called 'equity'.

11 posted on 02/26/2023 6:21:00 AM PST by caddie (We must all become Trump, starting now!)
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To: TheDon

Wonder which megacorp purchased the trailer that Mr James lives in, and raised the rent $100 per week?


12 posted on 02/26/2023 6:57:21 AM PST by texas booster (Join FreeRepublic's Folding@Home team (Team # 36120) Cure Alzheimer's!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Thank you for sharing this story. I sure hope that isn’t me in the years to come after I retire in April.


13 posted on 02/26/2023 6:57:59 AM PST by ducttape45 (Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people.")
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To: SeekAndFind

Or, that will keep you that long.


14 posted on 02/26/2023 8:06:54 AM PST by ealgeone
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To: SeekAndFind

Wonderful, heartwarming story.


15 posted on 02/26/2023 9:03:45 AM PST by TBP (Decent people cannot fathom the amoral cruelty of the Biden regime.)
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