It’s Friday. Are you ready to go into your weekend a sappy, emotional mess? Great, because that’s what you’ll become when you watch a group of Virginia high school students surprise their school custodian with the Jeep Wrangler he has always wanted. Like anyone would when people just drop a new car into their life, the man simply loses all composure.
This story unfolded at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia according to KPTV Fox 12, where Francis Apraku takes care of the school’s facilities. Apraku is apparently adored by the students, with one telling KPTV, “He’s more than just a custodian. He’s a dear friend to all of us. He’s just a very kind, genuine person.” Though Apraku has only been a part of some of these students’ lives for a year, they’re so moved by his friendship that they conspired to fulfill a lifelong desire of his.
Speaking to WUSA9, sophomores Logan and Bennett from the fundraising team said they and some friends began a GoFundMe campaign around six months ago, looping in anyone that could contribute.
“We met Francis around a year ago today, and he told us his birthday’s coming up. He told us he really wanted a Jeep, and that was his dream car, and that was his end goal in life—to get a Jeep Wrangler,” said Logan to WUSA9. “We thought, ‘We’re gonna try to get him a Jeep.'”
Within two days, they had gathered $5,000, which had snowballed to $20,000 as of last week. That was when they knew it was time to commit, and earlier this week, the students surprised Apraku with the Jeep in the school’s parking lot. Apraku was beside himself, in a state of such joy that he rolled around on the pavement.
“Today’s a wonderful day in my life, and I will never forget it,” Apraku told WUSA9, remarking how much the students mean to him. “What I’m always saying is, whoever you meet in this world, you need to respect. No matter what that person is. Whether old, whether young, whoever; we have to give them due respect.”
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