It’s not your average seven-year-old who has his own charitable foundation. But Jonathan Krouse is hardly your average second grader. The young Philadelphia-area boy just presented a check for $8,530 to the Delaware Valley chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association.
How did he raise the money? By writing, drawing and selling his own comic book.
Jon’s grandmother suffers from corticobasal degeneration, one of several neurodegenerative diseases related to Alzheimer’s. He told the Main Line Times that he thought he could draw a comic book to help raise money for his grandmother and people like her.
Once Jon’s Comics was printed, he began selling it in front of grocery stores and at an Alzheimer’s Walk held last November. Sales quickly rose, and he often raised as much as $600 or $900 in a day. Donations came in from around the country, and around the world, until he had raised more than $8,500.
Why comics? “They are funny and make people laugh,” Jon, now eight years old, told the Times.
“This is an amazing example of how Alzheimer’s is affecting children,” the Alzheimer’s Association’s Wendy Campbell told the newspaper. “The passionate support that we are seeing now from younger individuals speaks volumes about how this disease devastates entire families.”
Like any good superhero, Jon’s work isn’t done. You can still order a copy of Jon’s Comics with any donation over $5.
Photo via the Jon’s Comics Facebook page.
