Community Helps Replace 6-Year-Old's Lost Collection of Prized Pokemon Cards

It's a scene we've all probably witnessed more than a few times: a child in tears at the local grocery store

Still, what Lisa Brown saw at Scotts Valley Market last weekend caught her attention. It's wasn't so much the crying child, but the distraught-looking mother.

"I saw this look on her face that you really connect with as a parent," said Lisa, the mother of a little boy herself. "Your child's in distress. This little boy was in full tears, inconsolable."

The boy was 6-year-old Bradley Downing, and the tears were because a binder with some of the rarest and most valuable cards in his Pokemon collection was missing.

Earlier that day, Bradley's mother, Kelly, had placed the binder on the roof of their car as she was getting Bradley and his younger brother, Matthew, strapped in. It was a mile down the road that the family realized they had driven away with the binder still atop the car and it had flown off.

"It was really bad," Bradley said.

Frantically, the family retraced their journey, searching the road, in bushes, and under parked cars to no avail.

It was then they entered the market asking if anyone had seen anything when they encountered Brown.

"I asked her about reaching out on the local Facebook groups," Lisa said. "She said she didn't utilize social media that much."

So, Lisa took it upon herself to make the post. She asked on the My Scotts Valley Locals page if anyone had found the binder. No one had. But then, person after person chimed in offering to help replace the little boy's lost cards.

Erin Buchla, the owner of nearby Cruise Coffee Cafe, saw the post and the responses and offered to host a party where everyone could get together.

Dozens of adults and children gathered on Tuesday to deliver hundreds of Pokemon cards to one very grateful boy and his even more grateful mother.

"It's awesome," Kelly said. "Unbelievable. So blessed."