Return to Giving -- Creations for Charity

After a few years living in Germany, we are back in the US and I finally had a chance to re-open the BrickLink store. There are some items that I “pulled from the vault” so they are now a little older and harder to find elsewhere. I will continue to add inventory over the next few weeks as I sort through it all. As sales come in (Thank You!), it’s time to announce our next giving campaign.

This one is a repeat, but the timing works out great. Creations for Charity was started in 2009 by Nannan Zhang. The goal was to have LEGO builders sell their creations and then use the funds from sales to donate LEGO sets to kids all around the world. In 2009 they raised around $3,000. In 2020 they raised $18,240 and donated sets in 6 different countries.

This year, I’d like to help them reach a new record. 15% of the profits from the Bricks for Bricks store on BrickLink.com will go to Creations for Charity. The annual Creations for Charity event runs from 15 October to 30 November so we will use sales from now through 29 November and then hit the donation button on 30 November.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to give! Happy Building!

Under Water Brick Building (for charity)

Think you are a great builder? You can follow instructions no problem and never make mistakes… What about completing your build underwater? How will you handle floating pieces? Won’t your instructions get soaked through? How do you open the parts bags? I hope there aren’t any stickers!

Check out the video below to learn about Sophie and her build efforts under water for charity.

Creations for Charity - 2020 Campaign is Now

I apologize for being late tot he game, but the 2020 Creations for Charity drive started on 15 October and runs through 30 November 2020. This is your chance to pick up some cool custom MOCs and minifigures with all of the money going to buy LEGO sets for disadvantaged kids. The charity is all volunteer run so you’re not giving a portion to pay someone’s salary or anything. If you want more details or want to participate, you can go to CreationsforCharity.org.

They also have a short video explaining the program posted below. Thanks for giving and happy building!

Let's Help Fairy Bricks Bounce Back!

It’s another sad day in the LEGO fan community…

I first saw it on Brickset, but it has been reported in multiple places. The UK-based charity called Fairy Bricks was robbed… again!!!

Back in 2017 people busted into their van and took off with a bunch of sets. Here’s an article about the first terrible occurrence. The picture below is from that event. It’s not like someone left it unlocked or was able to break the lock… they just tore open the door with… I don’t know, a crow bar? Goodness! I enjoy LEGO, but not enough to pry open a van and steal the sets inside.

The most recent robbery occurred this past weekend. Thieves apparently cut a hole on the side of the building, busted in, loaded up the van, and drove off with the van and sets. WHAT!?!?!?! That is ridiculous! Come on!!!

The aftermath of the devastation is pictured below. The police are involved and investigating.

If you’re not familiar with Fairy Bricks, they raise funds to buy sets to give to kids in hospitals across Europe. You can visit their site for more details here. They are very active in giving sets during the pandemic as can be seen in the picture below.

As it has taken me a day to get this post out, the situation has unfolded some. The van has been located. YAY! No sets though. All of the sets stolen did not have the charity’s sticker on them so they weren’t marked. A number of LEGO fan sites have posted the update and a list of the sets stolen. You can see Brickset’s article here. Or you can watch a clip from Beyond the Brick below:

Finally, if you are interested in helping them out through this tough time, consider donating. You can donate directly through their site here. The donations are accepted in British Pound Sterling so be aware that you’ll have to pay the exchange rate when making a donation in US Dollars.

I hope and pray for a swift resolution to this situation so they can get back to giving. Thank you to everyone who had helped already and to the LEGO Group who said they are working to replace the sets. Let’s turn this negative situation into a positive one!

Happy building!

Give to Creations to Charity and Win a UCS Star Destroyer

Beyond the Brick is running a donation drive starting today (9 May 2020) and ending on 19 May 2020. The goal is to raise $2,000 and it looks like they will get there on day one. For every $5 given, you will get one chance to win a #75252-1: Imperial Star Destroyer. The set is not new. It is the version LEGO sent to Beyond the Brick for a set review. The Beyond the Brick gang has decided to give it away with a goal of raising money for Creations for Charity. If you have never heard of it, it is the following:

“Creations for Charity is an all-volunteer 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that hosts an annual fundraising event from October to November where builders from all over the world donate custom LEGO creations to sell and raise money to buy LEGO sets for underprivileged children during the holidays.”

Here’s the YouTube.com video announcing the effort:

Here’s the link to the donation page if you want to go directly there.

Thanks for supporting and happy building!

LEGO® Donating Some of the Profits from Your Sales to Those in Need

My last post was a complaint about the May 4th sale or lack thereof. Well today I am going to highlight some good. LEGO’s prices may be seemingly getting higher or the sales may not seem good, but it' is good to see them using some of their profits for good. On 1 May, LEGO posted an article titled:

How we’re helping families impacted by COVID-19

In summary, they are giving ~$50M to four charities which support children. Those charities are located in the US, Hungary, the United Kingdom, and China.

I’m glad to see LEGO supporting charities and hope it continues.

Happy building!

$8,299 Raised For the Red Cross in Australia

If you missed my initial post, Jay’s Brick Blog, run by an Australian AFOL, kicked off an impromptu campaign to collect funds for the Red Cross in Australia. The goal was to raise funds to help those impacted by the bushfires going on. Thanks to 302 people from around the world, Jay reported the following:

You can read Jay’s campaign post here. Bricks for Bricks got a call out so thanks Jay for the mention!

It’s great to see the LEGO fan community come together to do good in this world. Not only do we enjoy building, but we’re good people who like to use our brick hobby to help others.

Thanks to those of you who supported Jay’s campaign!

Happy building!

Bricks Supporting the Australian Bushfires - Your Chance to Help!

If you haven’t been watching the news or reading the news online, there is a massive fire burning in Australia. This is their summertime (for us northern hemisphere folks in the cold) so it is hot and dry which has not helped. The damage and destruction have been pretty awful and it is still ongoing.

Sometimes you see things like this and think how awful it is, but then you move on with your life since the news you are reading about is happening very far from you. Well some members of the LEGO Fan Community in Australia are trying to make a difference. Thanks to the BrickBlogger.com for sharing the post that alerted me of this effort.

Here’s what you need to know…

Jay’s Brick Blog is a LEGO Recognized Fan Media site run by an AFOL in Australia. Jay and some of his fellow Aussies have reached into their collections to hold a raffle. For each dollar you donate to support the Red Cross through his link, you get one chance to win some pretty cool sets. Not all are available internationally, but that’s okay. It’s awesome to see AFOLs getting together to do some good around the world.

If you’d like to support Jay’s effort, you can go to his Blog here to donate.

The raffle will be held on 12 January 2019 so support now if you want to be a part of the raffle.

If you’re not sure about giving to someone you don’t know in another country, Jay also posted a link to the Red Cross so you can donate to them directly.

Thank you Jay and fellow AFOLs for giving!

Everything Really is Awesome!

And to continue with the reference, it really is cool to be a part of the team. In this case, I’m referring to the AFOL community. Since my business is shut down for a few years, I haven’t been able to post about helping others. Luckily, today I have a post from Brickset.com that covers it.

Some background… in late November 2018, some vandals broke into an Orange County, California elementary school. They specifically targeted the library where the librarian had a large number of LEGO sets displayed on the tops of the shelves. You can read about the incident here.

Well thanks to Brickset, we have the aftermath of that story. A group of AFOLs took time over their Christmas holiday periods to go to the school and put the collection back together. Not only did they give of their time and talent, but some even gave bricks from their own collections to replace broken parts. You can read the article on Brickset here about the Justice LUG.

It makes me proud to be a member of the AFOL community after reading stories like this. Great job gang!