Va. High School Students Raise $20K to Surprise Custodian with a Gift He 'Could Never Afford'

"I didn’t believe this would happen in my life," Francis Apraku said

Students at a Virginia high school recently decided to surprise a favorite custodian with a special birthday surprise — a Jeep Wrangler.

According to local news outlets, Francis Apraku, a custodian at James Madison High School in Vienna, never expected that a group of students at the school would band together to raise money for him to receive the Jeep as a symbol of appreciation, but that’s exactly what happened.

In September 2023, around the time of his birthday, Apraku was having a casual conversation with a group of students and when asked what he wanted for his special day, he said he “desired to get a Jeep Wrangler,” TV station WUSA reports.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

From Apraku’s perspective, that was seemingly the end of the conversation — little did he know that the students had decided to start a GoFundMe to raise money to buy him the Jeep he wanted.

“Ever since we met Francis he has been super kind and friendly and sometimes even says prayers for us … he said he has always wanted a Jeep Wrangler but could never afford it which is why we made this go fund me to try and raise enough to get Francis a Jeep Wrangler,” the fundraiser stated.

Related: Students Surprise Beloved Teacher on Her Last Day of Chemo: 'I Had Tears in My Eyes'

Student Logan Georgelas explained to FOX 5 DC that "we just kind of decided we were going to try to get him his Jeep Wrangler with the GoFundMe, and we never really thought that it would come this far."

"When we got $5,000 in the first day, we were like, all right, this is real," Georgelas said.

Ahead of Apraku's birthday this year, the GoFundMe officially hit $20,000 in donations and the students cashed out the funds and partnered with a local car dealership to surprise him.

Related: Students Surprise Teacher Who Has Cancer by Christmas Caroling in Her Yard

On Monday, Sept. 9, the students gifted Apraku with a red Jeep Wrangler and, as expected, he was overcome with emotion at the gift.

"I will give thanks to Almighty God for making today for me. Today is a great day for me and I didn’t believe this would happen in my life," Apraku told FOX 5 DC.

"This day, Sept. 9, I will never, ever forget," he said.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.