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7-year-old boy raises money to replace best friend's toys destroyed in fire

Kollin makes a plea for funds to help his friend Ryan after his house was destroyed. (YouTube)

When Kollin Clark, 7, learned that his best friend and classmate, Ryan Branson, lost everything in an apartment complex fire, he immediately wanted to help.

Kollin was especially upset that Ryan had lost his favourite toys in the Normandy, Miss., blaze that displaced more than 30 families.

“He said, ‘Mommy, my friend Ryan at school, his house is gone,’” recalled Kollin’s mother, Jessica Clark. “‘You know it really makes me sad. Can you tell all the Facebook people that Ryan needs new Ninja Turtles?’”

Jessica did just as her son asked her. She posted a video on social media of Kollin asking for donations.

Within five days, more than $8,000 had been donated to the Branson family.

“I really couldn’t process what was happening, but after I sat down and really watched it with my mother, I was sitting there in amazement and my mother started crying,” Ryan’s dad, Ryan Branson, Sr, told KTVI.

As for 7-year-old Ryan, he’s just thrilled that his toys will be replaced. His best friend really did know what he needed.

“All of my toys, I had, they were in the house and they broke. But I am getting new toys, that’s the good part,” Ryan said.

In West Carrollton, Ohio, 75-year-old Barbara Dolan also lost everything she owned in a house fire. When a local Girl Scout Troop heard her story, they decided to use their reward money from selling cookies — about $500 — to help her get back on her feet.

“For a group of young girls that age, it’s hard for them to grasp the concept of what just happened,” Bonnie Wright, Dolan’s granddaughter, told WDTN. “For them to give up something that meant so much to them for a complete stranger, it’s just mind-blowing.”

Wright was so touched by the girls’ generosity that she arranged a free spa day for them at a local spa.