Giving

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 It seems like there are numerous groups that used to collect and donate LEGO sets, but many of them are no longer active (the pandemic seems to have taken out a bunch).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!

Creations for Charity 2022 - Open Now - 15 October to 30 November

Our campaign for 2021 supported Creations for Charity and while this year we will give to another worthy cause, it doesn’t mean you can’t support more than one. The 2022 Creations for Charity drive started on 15 October 2022. You can see their start post here. If you don’t remember them or you’re new, you can check out what Creations for Charity is about here. Most importantly, you can visit their shop to purchase cool custom MOCs and minifigures. Last year they raised over $35,000 to give to kids at 15 different locations across 7 countries. It would be great to see them expand that further this year.

Also, it’s not too late to donate a MOC. There’s a link on the shop page if you want to do that.

If nothing in the shop looks enticing, you can donate cash as well through their PayPal link.

Lastly, stay tuned for the 24-hour live stream hosted by Beyond the Brick.

Happy building and thanks for giving!.

A new Giving Campaign Starts - 1 June to 31 December 2022 - Brick Dreams

If you’ve followed Bricks for Bricks for a while or have spent some time on our site, you’ll see that we had campaigns for Brick Dreams in 2017 and 2018. Well after a few years, I looked and they are still at their awesome work. So why not send some bricks their way so they can use them to help others?

In case you didn’t click the link above, Brick Dreams was founded in 2012 with a goal of collecting used bricks and giving them to kids in need. They made kits for kids in foster homes and those who get moved around by Child Protective Services a lot. They are still doing it today.

From 1 June 2022 until 31 December 2022, 15% of the profits from sales at Bricks for Bricks will go towards Brick Dreams. Instead of sending them three boxes of new Bricks, let’s see if we can send them 30 or 50 or 100…

By the way, you can support them directly too if you want. Go to their site here to see how you can give bricks or cash to support their efforts.

Thank you for support! Happy building!

More to Give! Another Campaign Wraps up

We did it and thank you! The most recent campaign closed that we ran from 1 December 2021 to 31 May 2022. 15% of our profits went to the Doolittle Institute which runs FIRST® LEGO® League programs throughout northwest Florida. That final number came out to be…

$848

Thank you so much for helping to support STEM education in Florida. Our donation should help them support at least three full teams to include equipping them with robots, covering registration fees, and other costs involved.

Happy building!

I Made it into a Popular Youtube Video (sort of... okay, not really)

I did it! My store got featured by a famous AFOL in the Fan Media who called me out by name to say thanks for getting him the set he needed to finish the coolest video ever!

Or not so much…

Okay… in the video below, David of Solid Brix Studios, builds a LEGO Star Wars MOC only using sets from LEGO without any additional pieces. If you skip to the 3:20 mark, he holds up set #75098-1: Assault on Hoth. So yeah, he bought it from the Bricks for Bricks BrickLink store. I get it, you watched the video and he said none of that so I could be making it all up, but you’ll just have to trust me on this one.

So thanks David for supporting Bricks for Bricks and our efforts to give. The current campaign ends in 10 days so we appreciate all the orders and for helping us to help others.

Next Giving Drive - 1 December 2021 to 31 May 2022 - FIRST® Programs

Hopefully you’ve heard of the FIRST® LEGO® League. If you haven’t, the website says:

FIRST® LEGO® League introduces science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) to children ages 4-16* through fun, exciting hands-on learning. Participants gain real-world problem solving experience through a guided, global robotics program, helping today's students and teachers build a better future together.

Our three divisions inspire youth to experiment and grow their critical thinking, coding, and design skills through hands-on STEM learning and robotics.

To bring it a bit more local this time, the current drive will collect funds for my local FIRST® LEGO® League program in northwest Florida. It is run through the Doolittle Institute here locally. What do they need? Here’s what they say:

$25 = One Robot Motor

$50 = Robot Accessories

$100 = Support for their STEM Camp

$250 = Support for a FIRST Team

I’m a bit late getting this up so I’ll reach back to the sales starting 1 December 2021 and we’ll go through the end of May 2022. So let’s see how many full teams we can support!

Thanks for helping to encourage kids!

Happy building!

Biggest Give yet from Bricks for Bricks!

We were able to give $928 to Creations for Charity through our giving campaign that started in August and ended in November. Thanks to everyone who made purchases from our store so we could be so generous to a great cause!

According to the Creations for Charity site, this year they raised over $35,000! This is awesome! Thank you to everyone who donated whether it was through buying from the site, supporting the Beyond the Brick 24-Hour live stream, or making a purchase from Bricks for Bricks at our Bricklink.com store.

We will announce our next campaign soon. In the meantime, happy building!

Walking on LEGO Bricks and Giving Sets Away

How many people can say they have three Guinness World Book of Records for walking on LEGO Bricks? Well Russell Cassevah can and that’s not all he’s done. Mr. Cassevah has set up a charity called Little Bricks Charity. He uses his popularity of TikTok to raise funds to buy LEGO sets and give them to kids in hospitals. In 2021 he did a nationwide tour to deliver all of the sets.

I found a few local news articles on him here and here.

I didn’t see anything with the final amount he raised, but just looking at the videos, it looks like he’s done well. Awesome job Russell! If you are interested in supporting his cause, you can donate here. They will take LEGO sets or cash donations.

Happy building!

Creations for Charity has Begun for 2021

Creations for Charity - 2021

15 October to 30 November 2021

I’m slightly late to the game, but the 2021 Creations for Charity drive started back on 15 October and runs through 30 November. You can read more about the drive this year and what Creations for Charity is by going to their website here.

15% of the profit from sales at the Bricks for Bricks (on BrickLink.com) store will get donated to Creations for Charity on 29 November. So if you don’t see anything you like at Creations for Charity’s site, but you do at the Bricks for Bricks store, you can still support.

Thanks for your willingness to give! Happy building!