Creations for Charity has always had a special place in my heart. There's something wonderful about our community in which it happens. CFC takes people with a passion for a toy company, and allows them to jump in, in a variety of ways. Creators come together to generously give home built models, entertainers and vlogs donate moments, memories, and personality. And the participants encourage the people and validate the crafts, with time and money. I am so grateful to watch CFC continue to grow and stay faithful year after year. This wouldn't happen without the amazing people in our Lego Community.
This year I got to be a Lego mule! I was able to peddle around to lots of different stores and spend more money than I ever normally do on Lego. But more importantly find a place for the sets to end up. This is really the most important part of the journey, and affects all the steps leading towards it.
Hope for Henry, is a wonderful organization which helps kids undergoing treatments for cancer. I was introduced through a friend and her daughter who is now finishing her cancer treatments. She is joyously stronger every day. Hope for Henry was simply an invaluable aid to them as they maneuvered through this crushing time. They cannot praise Hope for Henry enough, and watching long time friends be so grateful, made it my first choice of organization.
So what happens with these sets? They use a rolling prize cart system for their incentives. Cancer treatments take time. Rather than a massive influx of sets on Christmas, they incentivise the children with points earned by being strong through the many weighty procedures and treatments. These points are spent on cart prizes. And naturally Lego is the best thing on that cart! But this pacing is also nice because kids end up with something they wanted and hoped for, not just a random set.
That said, it changed how I looked at which sets to buy. These children are undergoing draining treatments which restrict building time, energy, display, and play space. Fortunately, since CFC has perfect timing with Black Friday this gives us a great selection of excellent deals. But additionally, I was grateful to Lego corporate for the ease of finding sets that matched with what kids would be watching on tv from a hospital bed. Superheroes like Spiderman, and the princesses in the Disney line, can really be there for these kids. Also ornamental and art pieces from the Ideas sets and Harry Potter, work well. They take up less space in tight hospital rooms than a more traditional spralling set. And in the end, can decorate tiny side tables with accomplishment.
So again, thank you all so much for everything you do to make each year possible. Your love echoes throughout the year, and shines bright for many who are fighting for life and hope.
Sincerely, Sean Mayo