Patrick Ness, a YA author from the UK, began a fundraiser for Save the Children for its Syrian Refugee Crisis Appeal over the weekend, pulling in a total of £634,000 as of Wednesday morning, according to the Guardian.

Ness told the Guardian that he was “tired of just tweeting my despair about the current refugee crisis that the UK government is responding to with inhumane feebleness” when he thought to try fundraising.

Initially, Ness planned to match funds raised by the public of up to £10,000, which was raised in under two hours, with matching contributions of £10,000 by authors John Green, Derek Landy, and Jojo Moyes. But since, the pledges have continued, with Philip Pullman notably promising to donate another £10,000 on top of his original donation if the total reached £435,000.

“C’mon, give him a reason to get book four out,” Ness tweeted, referring to Pullman’s follow-up to the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Book of Dust.

Indeed, the amount stood at £452,700 on Monday morning.

“I just can’t believe what we—not me—have achieved in just four days,” Ness told the Guardian on Monday morning. “Over £500,000, way more than I ever could have dreamed in an angry moment on a Thursday morning. The support from authors has been incredible and keeps coming! Just amazing, what a wonderful community.”

On Twitter, Ness thanked publishers Andersen Press, Candlewick, Scott Pack, and Walker Books for their donations.

Ness has also donated an additional £5,000 since the fundraiser drew 5,000 donors.

Related reading: Guardian writer Gillian Cross argues that fiction can help us better empathize with the Syrian victims of the refugee crisis.

Patrick Ness photo credit: Jay Williams