LEGO® Build-off Fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association

Vital Stats

Mandy M

Danville, VA

  • people helped250000
  • People Doing It 700

The Problem

The third annual LEGO® Build-off fundrasier for the Muscular Dystrophy Association is held in honor of Morgan Hall on August 2nd from 10am until 1pm at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Reserach in Danville, VA. Each participant has all summer to build a LEGO® masterpiece. On the day of the fundraiser, each participant will display his or her masterpiece at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. Each display will have a jar in which the public will put money depending on how good they think the LEGO® masterpiece is. The person with the most money in his or her jar wins the grand prize! Every participant will receive a prize for their efforts. Only the first 100 people to register will get to participate. Registration begins June 1, 2008. Participants may work in groups of up to three people and there is no age limit. The categories this year are "Most Money Raised", "Most Original", "Most Creative", "Most Complex", "Fastest LEGO® Robotic Masterpiece", and "Morgan's Favorite". All proceeds will go to the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Danville is what you could call a community-challenged city. There is a great struggle to come together in a common cause in a social atmosphere and just enjoy each others' company. This fundraiser allows members from the community to bring their children into an atmosphere of intellect and charity. Young children are challenged to engineer unique LEGO® Masterpieces in order to help someone else. See the website for more details: http://legobuildoff.googlepages.com/

Plan of Action

When I had decided that I wanted to organize a fundraiser for MDA in honor of Morgan the summer after my senior year of high school, I realized that I had not seen Morgan in six or seven years. It took me a while to finally find his family and get permission to do the fundraiser in honor of Morgan. Luckily, I worked at a recreation center and they let me hold the fundraiser there. I started calling around local businesses to get sponsors, prizes, food, publicity, and entertainment. I spent the better part of three months lining things up for a three-hour event. Subsequent years, the fundraiser has been held at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, a facility that typically houses the governer's school and business meetings. The fundraiser has grown from having a small crowd of 200 people to over 700. The second year, Mayor Wayne Williams came to present the prizes to the children. We also have a professional LEGO artist come in from Richmond, VA. More of the local businesss are getting involved. This year, we had Virginia International Raceway sponsor a "LEGO Drag Race", Piedmont Credit Union sponsored a "LEGO Bank", and Mike's Performance Audio had a car show out in the parking lot. Hosting a successful fundraiser proves to be challenging, especially starting out. A lot of people are unwilling to help out with something new because they haven't heard anything about it. As more contacts are established, organizing an event like this one becomes much easier.
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