Giving

An Update and Something New

 

A few weeks ago, I let everyone know about how a charity focused on giving LEGO to kids was robbed. You can find that post here. Well I found an update to the initial call and it looks like the community showed up in force which was awesome to see. You can find the update to the story here. I didn’t see a final number on the amount raised, but it was great to see people showing up because they wanted to help. Thank you to all who supported this great cause! You can still support them by going to their site.

 

Photo from WKRC

Next up, Paul Wellington from Ohio who was on the show LEGO MASTER’S last year just start a chapter of Pass the Bricks recently. I was not aware of this charity, but you can see more about it in a local news story here. There are chapters of this charity located all around the US and in a few other countries as well. Check out their site to learn more and to see how you can help. Great job Paul!

We Need More Teens Like This One in Texas

Are you sick of seeing all the negative stories in your news feed? Me too. How come we aren’t seeing more like this one? After being a victim of porch thieves and losing a LEGO set that she ordered, Leah decided instead of getting mad about it, that she could help others get LEGO sets to build with. The linked clip from the San Antonio, Texas area highlights her story and the folks that stepped in to help her achieve her goal. Awesome stuff! I hope she continues.

If you’d like to support Leah’s effort, you can donate online through this link to the San Antonio Independent School District. As the article states, please put “Leah’s Lego Kits” in the comments.

If you know of a cool giving opportunity involving the LEGO brick, please pass it along so I can share it on the blog. You can email me at store@bricksforbricks.com or put it in the comments.

Also you can give to The Chalk Guy LEGO Service Project by ordering from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink Store or our eBay store.

Happy building!

Kids with Cancer + LEGO Sets = Joy!!!!

At least that’s the plan anyways…

V for Victory is a non-profit in the Jacksonville, FL area focused on supporting people battling cancer. One of their programs is called Bricks of Love. Kids with cancer receiving treatment get a token to go into a room and pick out a set to build or play with (some sets are pre-built).

Picture from V for Victory

This is an awesome idea and I’m sure it helps to distract kids from the not so fun task of battling cancer.

Sadly, this story takes a turn for the worst. The non-profit’s LEGO storage area was recently cleaned out by thieves. You can view the local news station’s story on it here. This isn’t the first time this has happened to a LEGO charitable organization either… Sad.

V for Victory is asking for help. They have set up an Amazon.com need cart and they are asking for folks to purchase sets there to be shipped to them to help make up for their loss. You can also go to their website and donate that way. If you’re in the local area, feel free to donate in person this weekend.

Happy giving!

Giving Campaign - Brick Chalk Guy - 28 November through 20 September 2024

We donated $460 worth of LEGO sets to the Chalkguy LEGO Service Project at the end of 2022. We heard from Ben Glenn and he asked if we’d be willing to run another campaign to support his organization. Our answer… of course!

From 28 November 2023 to 30 June 2024, 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink Store will support the Chalkguy LEGO Service Project. You can learn more about this project at their site here.

We look forward to sending them some sets in 2024. Thank you for your support!

Happy building!

Some of our 2022 donations to the Brick Chalk Guy drive.

$182 to Creations for Charity! Thank You!

We collected 15% of our profits from 1 July to 27 November 2023 which resulted in $182 for Creations for Charity. Overall, Creations for Charity raised $33,265 and donated sets to kids in 17 countries around the world. It was just shy of their 2021 record of $35,000, but still very impressive. You can see some of the results as the Beyond the Brick team helped to give away some of the sets purchased from the funds raised.

Thank you to everyone who supported Bricks for Bricks and allowed our continued giving!

Happy building!

New Giving Campaign - Creations for Charity - 1 July to 27 November 2023

Okay, this isn’t a new place, but the Creations for Charity drive needs our help. They had steadily increasing amounts raised in past years and then last year they saw a drop in donations. I’m not sure if 2021 was a fluke or what, but let’s make sure this year, they raise more than last year. So 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store will go to Creations for Charity. We’ve supported them before and it’s time to do it again.

In case you aren’t familiar, Creations for Charity was formed in 2009 by AFOL Nannan Zhang. It started the first year with a few donations locally and has since skyrocketed to what it is today. The Beyond the Brick team is involved with their annual 24-hour live stream to raise funds.

So thank you for your support and we look forward to being able to help them give lots of LEGO sets to kids around the world.

Happy building!

Another Big Give and Campaign Wrap Up

2023 started off with a campaign to give 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store to the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida. Little did I know when the campaign started that a co-worker of mine would spend almost a month staying there while his child was in the hospital. Having this place for him to stay, get food, do laundry, and rest was huge while his child was recovering and I’m super stoked to be able to give to them so others can have the same experience.

From 1 January to 30 June 2023, we raised $423 from the profits at the store for the Ronald McDonald house. Thank you to everyone who supported our efforts. The donation is in and it is going to wherever they need help the most.

Happy building!

Little Bricks Charity - The Mission Continues

I first mentioned Little Bricks Charity back in November 2021. With the Bricks for Bricks campaign to give funds to the Ronald McDonald House in Northwest Florida still going through the end of June 2023, I thought it would be a good opportunity to highlight others that are using the brick to give to those who could use a boost in life. Before I do that, just a quick plug for the Bricks for Bricks campaign. 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink shop will be donated to the Ronald McDonald House in Northwest Florida. No work or extra fees required on your part to participate. You buy retired sets and minifigures and we’ll send funds directly at the end of June 2023. This donation is timely as one of my co-workers at my non-LEGO job is using the House so it’s much appreciated. Okay, that was a long aside. Back to Mr. Cassevah… He is visiting BrickFest Live events around the country this year and making donations along the way. This past weekend, he was in Connecticut. Here are two news clips on the event. Number one and number two.

If you’d like to donate to his cause, you can find out more HERE.

Thanks for supporting and helping to give bricks!

2023 - New Year and New Giving Campaign

Sorry, I’m a little late getting this one posted. We had a last minute pivot to give the Chalkguy LEGO Drive $460 in sets to get them started in 2023. To kick of 2023, we found a local group to support.

From 1 January to 30 June 2023, 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks Bricklink store will go to the Ronald McDonald House of Northwest Florida. We have friends who have been grateful to use the Ronald McDonald House in the past and my family used to make meals at the Ronald McDonald house when we lived in Albuquerque, NM.

So thank you in advance for your purchases that will go to this great organization!

End of 2022 Campaign Results - A Change of Plan

16 Feb 23 update: It took a few weeks for me to post this, but the Chalk Guy crew took a picture for us to use on the site. It has their branding and some of the sets we sent their way. Thank you!

The good news is that we had $460 from the campaign at the end of 2022 to give from our Bricklink store sales. The plan was to give to Brick Dreams. We supported them before back in 2018 and their goal of giving foster kids bricks to play with while in transition. I reached out to them about sending them funds or LEGO bricks. Sadly, I didn’t hear back. Perhaps their organization no longer exists? Well I appreciate all they did in the past.

I searched for someone to replace Brick Dreams at the last minute. I made sure to pay attention to last post/update dates. It seems like there are numerous groups that used to collect and donate LEGO sets, but many of them are no longer active (the pandemic seems to have taken out a bunch). And then I found the Chalkguy LEGO Service Project.

Some background… This drive was started back in 2012 in Carmel, Indiana (near Indianapolis) by Ben Glenn. Ben was looking for a way to teach his daughters about giving and what started as a lesson turned into an ongoing project. They gave away two sets in 2012 and by 2019 they distributed 1,006 sets. In 2022 they gave away 514 sets. Well with our $460, we got them started off on the right foot with 12 brand new sets ranging from Star Wars to Speed Champions to Creator 3-in-1 to #10280-1: Flower Bouquet. Where do all of these sets go? Ben and team distribute them across his local area to various organizations trying to make life a little better for kids and their families.

If you live near Indianapolis or if you’d like to donate, you can find out how here.

Thanks to everyone who purchased from our Bricklink store in 2022. We look forward to giving more in 2023!

Happy building!