An 11-year-old Texas boy sold 700 Pokémon cards and toys, raising $20k+ for heart disease research

An 11-year-old schoolboy from Texas has given away hundreds of his own toys, Pokémon cards and hand-painted rocks over six years. He has raised more than $20,000 for children born with heart defects. Ryan Ragsdale is a fifth-grade pupil at Lorena Elementary School. He first joined the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge at age five, when he was in kindergarten. He came home wanting to help “kids with holes in their hearts.” He worked out a plan with his mother to sell his own childhood things instead of just asking neighbours for cash. Data released by the American Heart Association confirms that Ryan’s yearly toy sales have raised more than $20,000 (£15,800) for the charity’s medical research, public education and health advocacy campaigns. Every February, Ryan clears out his bedroom to find items to list for local buyers. Over six years, he has sold about 700 Pokémon cards from his own collection. He has also sold a Thomas the Tank Engine train set and a Jurassic Park-era Tyrannosaurus Rex toy that he had kept since he was three years old.Raising money by selling childhood treasuresThe idea for the yearly sale began when Ryan asked his mother, Sarah Ragsdale-Kline, ...