CRANBERRY TWP — It took less than a month for several Seneca Valley Senior High School students to raise $5,000 for a man who lives in the woods.

Josh Lowery and several friends started the online fundraiser after reading about Dave Williams in the Eagle.

Williams, 40, has lived in a tent in the woods between Interstate 79 and Route 19 for three years. He works full-time at Domenico’s in Cranberry.

Lowery and his friends sprung into action after reading Williams’ story, and they started a fundraiser on the Go Fund Me site. As of Thursday, the students raised $5,010 after 79 people donated over 27 days.

“I honestly didn’t even expect to make it over $1,000, and we did that within the first week,” Lowery said. “It picked up a lot of momentum after the school got behind it.”

Several donations came from Seneca Valley teachers, including an anonymous $600 that came this week that put the fund over $5,000.

Lowery said the anonymous donor was a Seneca Valley teacher.

He thanked school administrators for backing the project and for his principal for sending out an e-mail to faculty about the effort.

But Williams likely won’t receive the money for another week or two since Lowery has to contact the Go Fund Me company to transfer the funds to his bank account.

But even though the students reached their $5,000 goal, Lowery said the fundraising isn’t over.

He and his friends are talking with businesses about placing donation jars in those businesses. They’re also checking with restaurants to see if they would donate a portion of their daily food proceeds to Williams.

“Now that we’ve reached our goal, we have to get a move on gathering those outside funds as quickly as possible, especially with the weather being so cold,” he said, adding that the $5,000 will go to help Williams pay for housing.

Lowery added that the Go Fund Me site will remain up for another 10 days before it’s taken down.