Brickago: Chicago teens donate recycled Lego sets to kids in need

CHICAGO — Legos have been a childhood staple for more than 60 years, but for many families, those bricks are not within the budget.

The glorious sound of rummaging through a bin of Legos is nothing but pure joy for Rollin Christiansen.

“All I ever asked for every birthday, every holiday. It was the greatest feeling in the world shaking the box and hearing the rattling of pieces,” Christiansen said.

But it wasn’t just Christiansen. His entire group of close friends spent countless hours every week creating little worlds out of the plastic bricks.

“With Legos, there’s so much freedom and you’re able to express yourself without the instructions. You can build whatever you want,” Grace Lohrius said.

But over the years, those beloved sets began to collect dust, and that’s when Christiansen began thinking that perhaps they could use those old bricks to build something extra cool.

“Instead of tossing them, we could recycle the experience to some kids that would have as much fun as I did,” Christiansen said.

The teens turned that childhood nostalgia into a city-wide movement where they would collect old kits, sort and repackage them to donate to other Chicago kids.

“When he explained it to me, I was like, ‘Wow I want to be a part of that. That sounds amazing,’” Lohrius said.

They put out a call for any and all used plastic bricks, naming their project Brickago.

“I didn’t really expect a lot of people to bring their Legos but when we came in, there were so many people bringing dozens of kits,” Lohrius said.

And that’s how this group of friends found themselves, once again, up to their elbows in bins of rainbow-colored blocks.

“These pieces are going to be opened by other kids, and it just makes me feel really good about what we’re doing,” Braden Pecht said.

The newly packaged kits go to schools, local shelters and hospitals so other kids will get to experience the sweet sound of sifting through Legos.

“I’m super excited for those kids to experience what I have because it’s really just incredible,” Christiansen said.

It’s proof that when young people build with their hearts, they can construct something bigger than any spaceship, windmill or castle.

“It’s just so nice to share it,” Lohrius said.

They build hope. They build community. They build Chicago — brick by brick