First I’d like to say a hearty THANK YOU to LEGO, Bricklink and everyone who donated or purchased items for this years fundraiser to make it such an enormous success! Without the kindness of the Lego fan community this fund raiser would not be possible.
This is the 3rd year I have participated in the Creations for Charity fundraiser, but the 1st year I was personally affected and understood exactly how much this fund raiser really means to the people who receive these toys. My best friend of 20 years lost 100% of their homes, belongings and cars in a house fire back in August. Since then many members of the Lego community donated loose bricks and sets and Creations for Charity set aside some funds which I was able to use to repurchase each of the 4 Bogner children their favorite LEGO set. These donations have meant the world to these children who literally lost everything except the clothes they were sleeping in. I still smile when I think of how happy the kids were when they received the donations and the subsequent hours they have spent building castles, trucks and Zanadu sized houses.
In addition to the loss experienced by my friend Colorado has experienced 2 major natural disasters in the last 6 months, one of which made international news. The loss of homes from the Black Forest fire and 200 square mile flooding in Northern Colorado was close to 2,000 homes with another 19,000 seriously damaged. Because of this enormous loss our local Toys for Tots has had more requests for toys this year than the last 5 years combined.
This being my first year as a distributor I was not sure what to expect. I found that I had a lot of fun purchasing the sets and really enjoyed talking to people about the charity when I was asked why I was buying so much Lego.
In total I was able to purchase 132 sets with my allocated funds and the Toys for Tots volunteers were all smiles when I dropped them off. They said that Lego is the most requested and wished for toy consistently every year, no matter what the age range.
So again, thank you to everyone and my fellow coordinators for making this year such a success and giving back to those in their time of need.
I would also like to specifically thank the following people and companies whose generous donation of their time, resources, building bricks and accessories helped me make this years thank you gifts possible:
Chris McVeigh, Tyler Clites, Nannan Zhang, Brick Forge, Print-A-Brick, Chrome Block City, Andrew’s e-bricks, Queen Creek Bricks and Alex Taylor Collectibles
Have a safe holiday, a Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year!
– Kristi
