Play it forward

With the series of activities initiated by the ACC Community Outreach Committee echoing Earth Month still fresh in our memory, one new event stood out and sparked the curiosity of many of our members –The Lego Donation Drive.

Lego is a familiar household name to all members of our community spanning across a few generations. Most of the members and their families have likely vacationed at the Legoland theme parks, watched Lego Movies, and enjoyed family bonding time through Lego building. It was during one of these moments that inspired one of our members to start a sustainable and socially impactful movement: “play it forward”.

“The idea is to encourage those who are ready to part ways with their Legos, to pass them forward to others who have either never seen them, or simply can’t afford them”, says Will Chen, whose young son has recently passed forward his own beloved collection to the rural schools in Taiwan.

This idea first came about a few years ago, when Will observed the many benefits his son derived from creative play in early childhood, which fostered critical thinking and problem-solving skills that laid the foundation for STEM learning in later developmental years. “What if more children can share the same benefits without added cost, by sharing and reusing the same resources? Like children’s books in the library?”, which prompted Will to start researching online. He discovered various initiatives in the US, Canada and UK (ranging from local communities to national government levels, e.g., Nova Scotia Department of Education partnered with the Canadian Lego Replay program.”). However, Will couldn’t find such programs in Taiwan. Determined to make a difference, Will decided to establish a charitable organization dedicated to this cause.

However, just as Will was prepared to launch his initiative, the global pandemic struck, dampening the concept and appeal of recycling and regiving used toys on both ends of the equation. The plan was put on hold until the timing felt more appropriate. But, as the pandemic dragged on for years, Will started to waver and almost gave up on the idea. It wasn’t until August 2022, when Will learned about ACC Community Outreach’s donation campaign, that once again reignited his motivation to act and give back. This campaign featured Green Miracle, which is a non-profit organization that recycles 3C products from public donations (launched by SystemLead Tech). For over 10 years, the organization has been helping underprivileged children, NGOs, and new immigrants in Taiwan, in addressing their digital divide. This charitable cause resonates well with Will’s vision of reuse of resources and bridging gaps. Through the ACC connection, Will had an in-depth conversation with the President of Green Miracle, from which he learned a great deal about the operational barriers and difficulties of such recycling programs, as well as the challenges and rewards in making sustainable long-term impact for positive changes.

This series of events served as a catalyst for Will to put thoughts into action. Thus, he founded The ReGivers, a non-profit organization aiming to create a sustainable platform for anyone to pass forward their Lego, benefiting others while helping our environment in reducing carbon emission.

The result of the Lego Donation Drive was remarkable, with 30 boxes of full sets and 86.7 kilograms (approximately 61,000 pieces) of loose pieces received. While some were surprised by the amount, Will wasn’t: “I realized that most of us are charitable at heart and willing to give back. But perhaps, we lack the catalyst, or a sense of urgency to act. That’s why you usually see an outpouring of donations right after earthquakes and disasters, but less so on social issues that impact far more people on a longer time horizon. ACC’s Community Outreach campaigns bring us the awareness of these issues, give us the urgency to act, and serve as a catalyst to give back.”

Will repeatedly expressed his appreciation to all the ACC Members and to the Community Outreach for supporting him on this quest. He said with such humility that he saw so many people doing their parts and he was just leveraging off the synergy. But maybe just like how building Lego goes, it all starts with the first block. Will and the ReGivers laid the foundation, then brick by brick, the rest of us continue to build on top and expand, infinitely.

Play it forward.