The large donation from the Fields family of Antelope was the perfect community service project on March 26th. Thank you very much. Members of the Eureka Granite Bay 4-H club spent the afternoon preparing Legos and getting them ready to give to our community partners. Your gift was deeply appreciated and will give many children great happiness.
Lleyton and Kyle were honored last week during a photo shoot for a Style Magazine. In an article entitled, “20 under 20”. The magazine will highlight teens who go beyond what’s expected and inspire all who cross their path. The magazine will hit news stands April 1.
Wow, we can’t thank the Fields family enough. They made a huge donation to BrickDreams – all the Legos their son had outgrown and it was quite a collection. Multiple boxes full! Our charity will be able to put them to great use and will bring a lot of kids in need some enjoyment. Thank you again for all your generosity.
Thank you to the Brennan Family of Evanston, IL for packing up their Legos and donating them to BrickDreams. They look great packed up and ready to go!
We’re excited to say a photographer from Fox 40’s morning show came to interview us for their Salute to Service segment. They saw the article about BrickDreams in the Folsom Telegraph last week and wanted to get to know more about what BrickDreams is about. The producer said the segment is scheduled to air on Wednesday, 12/21 at 6:23 and 8:15 am.
BrickDreams appreciates being recognized as the Daisy Buttons Believes grant recipient for the month of November. See more in the press release below.
Making a Difference Brick by Brick
13YO wins $1000 grant to help abused kids “build” hope.
Folsom, CA: When 13 year old Lleyton Rutz first got involved with BrickDreams ™ it was because his Dad, a tennis pro, had collected tons of tennis ball cans. He was looking for something positive to do with them and discovered BrickDreams needed cans to distribute their Legos in. Over time and many hours of service, Lleyton grew to love the mission and the difference he could see it making for so many kids. In fact, he loved it so much that he didn’t even need to think twice when he was asked to run BrickDreams! “When my family and I were asked to take it over or it would stop existing, it was clear that we had to step up and make sure that Brick Dreams kept its mission going. I cared so much about the kids. I wanted to do it all for the kids.” Rutz said.
With the help of his twin brother Kyle, family and friends, Lleyton has grown his dream to distribute 700 lbs. of Legos in the last year! That’s 1400 cans of them to kids in need. He targets kids of domestic violence and was even recognized recently by the Folsom Police Department being awarded the “Symbol of Service” award. “Legos are simple and easy for everyone to play and build with!” Rutz said. “They are a really encouraging gift to a child who is struggling to find joy” he added.
Shortly after taking over BrickDreams (originally founded by Bailey Snow), Lleyton began looking for resources he could use to help him run and grow his charity. That’s when he found Daisy Button Believes™. He now uses their network of kid Philanthropists for support, advice and ideas for his own cause. Because of his hard work and results, he received one of the organizations monthly $1000 grants to further “build” BrickDreams. “The grant money will help us so much. It will help pay for a storage unit I want to buy so I don’t have to pay rent on a unit any more. It will also help expand our donor program globally and establish ourselves as a true non-profit 501c3.” Rutz said.
DaisyButtonBelieves.com was founded by children’s author Tracey Serebin. She was inspired to create the site after working with schools in New Jersey. “I realized there was no central location that kids could learn from each other, find the resources they needed to take their ideas to the next level, and get feedback from other kids who had succeeded in a big way. I also wanted to expose them to adult role models that have created successful platforms and used their money and position for good.” Serebin said.
Past winners include Sally Campbell (13) of Sallybrating with a Cause, raising money for Cancer patients, Brooke Thomas (12) of The Thomas Promise Foundation, filling backpacks for hungry kids in her community, Violet Humble (8), of VOLT, feeding the homeless and Torrin Thorp (13) of The Helping Hand Project, creating Blessing Bags and collecting entertainment for hospitals.
For more information about Daisy Button Believes, please visit: www.daisybuttonbelieves.com or call 201-394-5328. For more information about BrickDreams, please visit: http://www.brickdreams.org.
We want everyone to know about BrickDreams. Can you help us? Our goal is to get to 500 Facebook likes by the end of December. Like us if you haven’t already, share us, comment on our posts. www.BrickDreams.com
BrickDreams thanks Mrs. Fowler and her CJSF group for not only helping us sort, but for conducting a week long donation drive on campus plus with their feeder elementary schools. We not only received Lego but Duplo too. And in some cases the donations were brand new. We were thankful for their tremendous generosity and for a great afternoon of sorting. 
Thank you Andrea Jimenez and Blake Pentecost for your generous Lego donations. Today at national Make a Difference Day, your Legos were prepared for donation to the Citrus Heights Police Department where they are being eagerly awaited for distribution. Your donation will mean so much for other children. Thank you for your thoughtfulness.
Boy Scout Troop 121 members, Lleyton and Kyle Rutz, led a day of community service on Make a Difference Day. They were joined by Cub Scouts from Pack 97 for a Lego sorting event to benefit the Folsom and Citrus Heights Police Departments. Thank you cub scouts! You did a great job. And thank you to Lindsay Schield for coordinating the day with us. Lleyton and Kyle, now Life Scouts, started their scouting career at Tigers in Pack 97. Leading today’s session was a great way for them to show younger scouts what’s possible as they grow up in scouting.
