Joe Trupia, owner of Citizen Brick, says all proceeds go to the non-profit Direct Relief.
There’s more than one way to help Ukraine.
A Chicago-based retailer that specializes in Lego building raised money for the war-torn country by creating a minifigure based on President Zelenskyy. Along with the Lego-version of the Ukrainian leader, customers could also purchase little Lego-Molotov cocktails.
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Citizen Brick created the two custom items and announced them on its Facebook page. According to the post, the Zelenksyy figure sold for $100, while the Molotov cocktails sold for $10 each.
The Lego-bottle for each Molotov cocktail had a Ukrainian flag printed on its side.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Citizen Brick owner Joe Trupia explained, “We were very affected by the images we saw of people fleeing Ukraine and wanted to do something that was in our wheelhouse. That we knew our collectors and our customers would respond to it.”
A spokesperson for Lego told Fox Business, “This initiative has absolutely nothing to do with the LEGO Group. It’s the work of an independent retailer which has no connection to the company.”
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President Zelenskyy, seen here giving a speech in Kyiv on February, 2022, became an unofficial Lego figure thanks to a retailer in Chicago. ((Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP))
Citizen Brick posted a follow-up message after the sale, announcing that all the figures and cocktails had sold out.
On Facebook, Citizen Brick wrote, “A huge thank you to everyone who donated to yesterday’s fundraiser for Ukraine. Through the sale of the President Zelenskyy minifigs (and Molotov Cocktails, which got our last post pulled down, go figure) we were able to raise $16,540! The entire amount was donated to Direct Relief to assist their efforts to bring medical supplies to those in need.”
Direct Relief is a non-profit organization that does humanitarian work and provides emergency medical assistance both nationally and internationally.
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Citizen Brick’s post continued, “As you may have noticed, the minifigs sold out almost immediately. We made as many as possible in a frantic 24 hrs, with the CB crew coming in on their day off to print. We know there were some folks who tried to get one and couldn’t. We hope they’ll consider making a direct donation to a relevant charity nonetheless.”
