Ever wonder what to do with the LEGO bricks that you or your children played with and no longer need? So did Matthew Gould, whose inspired answer is The Giving Brick, a nonprofit that compiles used LEGO pieces into complete sets and provides them to the abused/neglected kids served by Jackson County CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates).
“Our CASA volunteers tell us these LEGO gifts become treasured possessions for children in very difficult circumstances,” says Jackson County CASA Executive Director Martha Gershun, whose volunteers expect to advocate for 1,200 abused/neglected kids this year. {mprestriction ids="1,3"}“It is a great mitzvah when community partners like The Giving Brick help our CASA children in such productive ways.”
“Many of our community’s neediest, most-deserving kids don’t get the opportunity to own LEGO sets of their own,” Gould says. He is working to change that.
As a child, Gould and his siblings had a wooden toy box brimming with LEGO bricks that they loved to play with. As a dad, Gould bought LEGO sets for his three sons. And then, he inherited the family LEGO bricks, overwhelming their basement. “My wife came downstairs one day and said ‘We’re going to need a bigger house or you’re going to need to get rid of some of this LEGO,’ ” Gould, who is Jewish, recalls.
His options were limited and unsatisfying. He didn’t want to spend time selling them, they’re not recyclable by most centers because of the heavy plastic they’re made of and the charities he could find that handled LEGO bricks just put them in bags and sent them to kids overseas.
“I loved putting together the models and I wanted to pass that on to kids. I wanted them to be able to not just play with the LEGO bricks but to actually build a toy that they could play with and imagine with. I realized there was a subset of kids that couldn’t afford LEGO and their lives, I apologize for the word, but their lives sucked as it was, and most of these kids were caught up in the foster care system.”
“We have a family connection with Jackson County CASA and, when I started talking with Martha Gershun, she started telling me these horrible stories of kids who have nothing. They go from home to home, foster care to foster care, with essentially the clothes on their back and whatever toys might be in the new foster home. I saw this as a great opportunity to pass on our love of LEGO.”
For a year, Gould and his family worked to figure out how to compile LEGO sets to donate. With the help of sons Ian, 13, Noah, 10, and Adam, 8, they washed LEGO bricks, built models, played with them, and then took them apart, sanitized the pieces, and packaged them in gift boxes with building instructions. Gould’s wife, Erin, worked on The Giving Brick’s website and packaging for the completed sets.
Gould also turned to websites for help. One site allowed him to list all his pieces and determine what sets could be built from them. Another website served as the source where missing LEGO bricks could be purchased to complete sets. Another site translated instructions from one color schematic to another so that instruction manuals could be included with each LEGO set.
Gould says he tries as much as possible to replicate the sets that are being sold in retail stores, even if it’s built of different color LEGO bricks. “Our belief is, not only are we giving LEGO for imaginative play but there’s a little bit of self-esteem and confidence that goes with it because these kids have nothing and they’re probably going to school with other kids who may have LEGO sets. If those kids are out on the playground talking about the new LEGO sets that they have, we want these kids to be able to join in that conversation rather than just a conversation about LEGO.”
Gould made that possible for 10 CASA kids, who received boxed LEGO sets totaling nearly 10,000 LEGO pieces from Gould’s own collection, last December. Each set contained 400-1,000 pieces valued at $75-$150 retail.
“Jackson County CASA is deeply grateful to The Giving Brick for providing wonderful, high-quality LEGO sets for abused and neglected children in the foster care system,” says Gershun. “The children we work with have very few things to call their own — and these delightful toys provide them with many hours of educational entertainment.”
The goal now is to not just provide abused/neglected children with LEGO sets for the holidays but also for birthdays or days when a child could really use a lift. For that, The Giving Brick has begun putting together smaller sets of 100-150 pieces.
In January, Gould posted information about The Giving Brick on LEGO fan blogs seeking donations of unwanted LEGO sets and missing bricks needed to complete models. LEGO packages began arriving from Alabama, New Mexico, Colorado and even Germany. “I think my wife’s nightmare came true because, with the donations, we suddenly had more LEGO than when we started,” Gould laughs.
In Kansas City, several local toy stores have volunteered to serve as drop-off sites for LEGO donations — The Learning Tree, Brookside Toy & Science, Zoom, Fat Brain Toys, Go Big Skill Toys, and TableTop Game and Hobby. Gould is willing to pick up donations from those unable to take them to the toy stores. Those who want to ship donations can get more information on The Giving Brick’s website, www.thegivingbrick.org.
The website and The Giving Brick’s Facebook page also accept monetary donations to pay for missing LEGO bricks needed to complete sets. Cash donations also can be made to The Giving Brick at local First Bank of Kansas branches.
Gould says he hopes that organizations will sponsor LEGO drives and collect unwanted sets for The Giving Brick. “There are enough LEGO bricks already on the planet to give every kid in the world over 200 pieces, and LEGO makes billions more each year. With so much LEGO in the world, we are hopeful generous donors will come forward and donate LEGO to kids who otherwise would go without.”{/mprestriction}