Charbonneau grandmother and grandson ‘Pass the Bricks’

Those who enjoy building in the colorful, immersive world of Lego know the bricks don’t come cheap. A local grandmother and grandson are working to help bring Lego sets to those in need.

Charbonneau 10-year-old Holden Brower is an ambassador for Pass the Bricks, a nonprofit organization that works to repurpose old Legos into “new” sets for kids in need, according to the website.

With help from his grandmother, Peggy Garner, Brower cleans and redesigns donated Lego sets to give to charity. Brower has been building Legos for most of his life, and has redesigned Legos before as well. His grandfather, Wendell, said some of his past redesigns include tanks and vehicles.

Brower said he got involved with the organization a couple months ago at Peggy’s suggestion, after she saw it on the news.

They have a donation bin in the Wilsonville Public Library, which Brower and Wendell said has been filled and emptied twice. Brower said they received a variety of Lego donations, with sets inspired by the Avengers, Ninjago, vehicles and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

People are also able to donate spare Lego pieces, as opposed to full sets, they said.

Peggy said most Lego donations are not assembled when donated, and in the latest donations most of the box sets were missing parts. This is a reason the Legos are redesigned into something different than the original design.

In an email Peggy said they have finished washing the first round of donations and are ready to begin redesigning, adding they intend to build around 20 sets. She said Legos can be redesigned into anything, from animals to treehouses.

Brower and Wendell said they will donate the redesigned sets to local hospitals along with Boys and Girls Aid, an Oregon-based organization that helps children and families with fostering and adoption. Peggy said in the email they intend to give the unopened Lego set to a child with a longer hospital stay.

Brower said he loves building Legos because he can be creative, and thinks it’s important for other kids to have the opportunity to play with Legos “so they can be creative, too.”

Along with the donation bin currently set up in the library, Peggy said in an email that they can pick up Legos from those who want to donate. She can be reached at wenepeg@me.com.