GROSSE POINTE FARMS, Mich. – A Grosse Pointe Farms family is asking for donations to help keep smiles on the faces of sick children.
The Brown family created the #HudsyStrong LEGO drive to benefit the pediatric floor at Ascension St. John Hospital.
Their inspiration is 10-year-old Hudson Brown. Five years ago he was spending a lot of his time at that same hospital battling brain cancer. Once he went into remission, his family felt it was only right to give back to other children like him.
Hudson Brown loves LEGO kits.
“My biggest one is Ninjago City. It’s got like 4,000 pieces, and it took me about four or five days,” Hudson Brown said.
His mother Megan Brown said it’s more than a hobby, it’s what got him sitting up in the hospital for the very first time.
“He caught the LEGO bug when we would have long hospital stays. He would complete LEGO sets and it was useful for bargaining chips,” Megan Brown said. “If we had to do something hard, if he had to get a poke we’d be like ‘Oh, we could open the next LEGO box after we go through this.’”
After 15 months Brown went into remission. His father, Pat Brown, said the hospital still has a special place in their family’s heart.
“We’ve loved our nurses, we loved our child life specialists. They were just so good to him, and to us, in a time that was really hard,” said Pat Brown. “We’re so thankful to be able to give back to them.”
This year marks the family’s third annual drive for Ascension St. John Hospital’s pediatric floor.
“In 2021, we collected about 120 LEGO sets,” said Megan Brown. “In 2022, it was about 220 LEGO sets so this year, our goal is 250 sets.”
As of June 22, they’ve collected a total of 150 kits and received $1,000 in their Venmo account. The family delivers the sets too.
“We saw this one young guy being rolled out to something, he looked very unhappy and you know, sad and we were told by our child life specialist later that afternoon that when he got out of his procedure, he got to go into the child life room and take out the first set and it just made his day,” said Pat Brown.
The best part for all of them is spreading the same joy that helped bring their family through a rough time.
“It made me feel super happy in the hospital and I hope that other kids in the hospital will feel the same way I do when they get LEGOs,” said Hudson Brown.
To support their cause you can visit their Amazon wish list here, or you can give a monetary donation to their Venmo account @Megan-Brown-132. Whistle Stop Toy and Hobby Shop in St. Clair Shores has a donation box in their store as well.
All donations need to be in by June 30 so the family can deliver the sets in July. For additional questions, you can email the Brown family at pbrown11483@gmail.com.