New Series: Building Community
Posted by MeganL,
This year has been challenging for many of us. Part of Brickset's response to the pandemic has been to run some extra article series, such as Meet a Member and Storage Solutions. Today, we're asking for your participation in our next series, Building Community (the double meaning is intentional).
I was chatting recently with Holly Webster (aka Holly Wachtman and polyester333) - many of you may remember her LEGO Ideas project under review, or the interview she had with Huw last year. Over the course of that conversation I learned that Mel Brown (US LEGO Masters contestant) has worked with a local scholarship trust for a free LEGO camp for kids who don't have much access to LEGO. Holly is helping Mel plan and teach the program. She'll be sharing her experiences with that program in this series.
That got us thinking - how many programs like this are going on that not enough people hear about? I would never have known about Mel's program had I not talked with Holly.
Getting a regular dose of good news is something that many of us could use. Holly and I will bring you the stories of those using LEGO to make the world a better place in Building Community, and because everyone can use good news on a Monday, we'll publish new installments on Mondays.
LEGO has been sharing these kinds of good news stories, too. Our first article will be on a LUG that brings LEGO to seniors.
Do you know of someone or an organization who should be featured? See more details after the break.
There are a few ways to nominate someone/get featured. Whether it's a one time event or an ongoing program, we'd love to share everything.
If you'd like to get a head start, these are the questions we'll ask:
Describe the program (Community outreach/benefit).
How long have you/the group been doing this?
How did you/the group get started?
How long have you (personally) been involved in LEGO?
When did the group become a RLUG (if applicable)?
How many people have been reached?
How many volunteers are involved?
How has your organization/activity affected by the pandemic?
What are your/the group's future plans?
You can contact us through the site's contact form or contact me directly. If you prefer, we can set up a time for a short Zoom/Teams/Skype call to go over these questions.
Pictures are encouraged and very helpful in telling the story.
We'll have our first Building Community article on Monday.
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18 comments on this article
What a wonderful idea! I look forward to reading about them!
This is a fantastic idea. With so many things going on in different places, hopefully this will culminate a lot of them in 1 location.
Marvellous idea! Hope this becomes a staple of Brickset, as it is definitely important on the current context, but also has the potential for being so much more!
Once there was this IDEAS project focusing on the senior target audience but nobody cared about it:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/7681a03b-8066-4313-9cf2-62ce667c1974
Wonderful idea, so much good comes from the bond and enjoyment people have over Lego. Love hearing good news of all kinds!
@Frank_Brickowski said:
"Once there was this IDEAS project focusing on the senior target audience but nobody cared about it:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/7681a03b-8066-4313-9cf2-62ce667c1974"
I think Duplo sets designed for adults is a really great idea! They're a great alternative to the smaller bricks for some people but probably aren't going to have enough mass appeal to be marketed as much more than a preschool toy. This is why awareness is key, so we can figure out ways to contribute in areas that have been a little farther out of reach from the LEGO company.
That Duplo Taj Mahal is the perfect thing to present to Lego World Builder.
Great idea!
When good news does not exist or goes unnoticed, its our responsibility to create some or shine light on it. Thank you
You don't even have to be a dedicated organization to get involved in this sort of stuff. My LUG is a mostly typical hobby LUG, but one of my favorite shows we've been doing for well over a decade is in support of a local charity organization. Every year they run an event the week of Thanksgiving, and we provide a 100 square foot town layout. To us, it's just one of around 20 displays we'll put up during the year (except this year, when it looks like we'll top out at _five_). Someone else is doing all the heavy lifting on the charity aspect, so basically the only major difference is that the club doesn't charge a fee for this display. For something that doesn't require a ton of extra effort on our behalf, we've become a major draw for the event, and help bring in a lot of paying attendees.
So, nothing against people organizing stuff like Mel's camp if that's their thing, but if you're the sort of person who's daunted by the idea of building that sort of thing from the ground up, there are probably charitable events in your area that already have that side of things covered, and would just love to have a kid-friendly LEGO display that _they_ don't have to put any effort into.
@PurpleDave - and that's exactly the type of thing we'd love to hear about, too. Giving back to the community comes in many shapes and forms. Have your LUG send me a note about it with a few pictures and we'll be happy to feature it.
@PurpleDave yes, thank you for that example; that’s the kind of thing we hope people will be submitting. Our LUG also takes part in a variety of charitable events and donations, and that sort of thing will certainly get highlighted!
@polyester333 said:
" @Frank_Brickowski said:
"Once there was this IDEAS project focusing on the senior target audience but nobody cared about it:
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/7681a03b-8066-4313-9cf2-62ce667c1974"
I think Duplo sets designed for adults is a really great idea! They're a great alternative to the smaller bricks for some people but probably aren't going to have enough mass appeal to be marketed as much more than a preschool toy. This is why awareness is key, so we can figure out ways to contribute in areas that have been a little farther out of reach from the LEGO company."
Maybe the project could be re-submitted.
This is such a wonderful idea! I can already foresee so much more positivity than with the Storage Solutions series :)
I really hope this kind of articles stay and come more frequently on Brickset, even after the world passes the covid pandemic.
BTW, the Storage Solutions series was absolutely phenomenal. I got a lot of ideas from it and actually implemented the instructions manual in magazine boxes and bags system.
What an awesome idea and what a great first article to start with! :D
One of our LUG members (Southern Bricks LUG in South Australia) has been running LEGO 'come-n-try' days for the residents at the retirement home where she lives. She also extends the invitations to the residents' families and from what I've heard, the meetings have been a great success!
I've passed on this article's information to her, so hopefully she'll be in touch.
AWEsome initiative Megan L! - Joel