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Mountain of LEGO donated to Surrey Christmas Bureau by members of local club

‘LEGO are a high-quality but expensive toy, and many do not have the ability to purchase that,’ drive organizer says
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Andrew Delbaere with LEGO sets donated to Surrey Christmas Bureau in a drive he organized among members of Vancouver LEGO Club. (Photo: instagram.com/fraservalleybricks)

A small mountain of LEGO was donated to Surrey Christmas Bureau with the help of one avid builder of the plastic bricks.

Andrew Delbaere has created some familiar Surrey buildings with LEGO, including Guildford Town Centre.

“I have a LEGO room at my house which contains a city I’ve been working on for years that features a Central City Brewery-inspired brewery,” explained Delbaere. “I also have a 20-square-foot hockey arena that seats over 900 LEGO figures.”

Delbaere’s creations are posted to his Instagram account (@fraservalleybricks).

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He also posted donation photos of $3,737 in LEGO sets to Surrey Christmas Bureau, along with $360 cash, collected from fellow members of Vancouver LEGO Club, among others.

“Four years ago, after seeing the buying power that our club has when it comes to LEGO, especially when it comes to sales, I felt like we needed to work on using that to help benefit others,” explained Delbaere, 34, a Fleetwood-area resident.

“LEGO are a high-quality but expensive toy, and many do not have the ability to purchase that,” he added. “So I started this drive to collect LEGO that we could donate to the Surrey Christmas Bureau, which I have worked with since my Surrey Eagles teddy-bear toss days.”

In the first couple years of the donation drive, club members collected and donated close to $600 in LEGO, he said.

“Last year we had a big jump to $1,700, and this year I decided to expand the reach outside just our club, and we managed to collect $3,737 of LEGO and have $360 donated,” Delbaere noted. “Going to hope to beat that again next year.”

• READ MORE: Surrey Christmas Bureau executive director says it’s going to be a ‘record year’

This year, Surrey Christmas Bureau has set up shop in the former Safeway store in Whalley, at 104 Avenue and King George Boulevard.

For a donation wish list, visit christmasbureau.com/donate. The toy depot is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. for in-person donations. People can also drop off toy donations at fire halls across the city.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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