A beloved Milledgeville pastor needs a new heart. His community stepped up.

The Milledgeville community has raised nearly $10,000 to support a local pastor who needs a heart transplant.

After serving as a pastor for more than 40 years, Tony Fraley of Vaughn Chapel Baptist Church, has received an outpouring of support to cover the cost of post-transplant prescription medications and insurance premiums, according to a news release.

“This malfunction that has been placed on me, I really feel in my heart that it is for the glory and edification of God, and you have made it so easy by your act of kindness, your act of love, your act of concern for my well being,” Fraley said, in a YouTube video posted on the GoFundMe page.

Although Fraley has health insurance that will cover some of the costs associated with the operation, the co-pay for the immunosuppressive medications will cost around $20,000-$30,000 per year.

The GoFundMe fundraiser, created on Dec. 9, has raised $9,725 for the transplant.

Farley has been enrolled in the Georgia Transplant Foundation’s Transplant Fundraising Program, which will match the donations up to $10,000. GTF is managing the fundraising account, and the funds will be distributed to Farley for approved transplant-related expenses, according to the GoFundMe page.

“We are thankful for friends like you who will help to make it seem less overwhelming. We thank you in advance for your support of my endeavor to assume self-responsibility for my medical needs through fundraising,” wrote Minister Lisa T. Shinholster on the GoFundMe Page.

To donate online, visit www.gofundme.com/f/tony-e-fraley-heart-transplant. If people wish to use a check or money order, they need to make the check out to “Tony E. Fraley Fundraiser” and put “Heart Transplant Fundraiser” in the memo section of the check. Donations can be mailed to P.O. Box 555, Milledgeville, GA 31059-0555.