Lego donates $1M to six Richmond-area nonprofits

Lego Group has distributed $1 million in grants across six Richmond region nonprofits, the Danish toymaker announced Thursday.

The company, which broke ground in April on its $1 billion manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County, awarded the funding to organizations serving children and families as part of its commitment to help kids “learn through play.”

“Today we are pleased to extend our support for the greater Richmond community,” Lego Chief Operations Officer Carsten Rasmussen said in a statement. “This new factory is a strategic addition to our global supply network that sets us up for long-term growth. Playing a meaningful role in the communities in which we operate and call home is an integral part of this strategy.”

The six organizations receiving grants are:

• Blue Sky Fund, to support its Explorers program, which provides science instruction in natural environments for Richmond Public Schools students in the third, fourth and fifth grades;
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Richmond, where the funding will support Playful Pathways, a hands-on, skill-based empowerment program for underserved youth;
• James River Association, to increase access to hands-on outdoor education and play-based learning and support organizational capacity to extend programming to new formats;
• Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, to expand its organizational capacity for youth and family engagement programs, including its summer camp program for children from under-resourced communities;
• SOAR365, to advance its pediatric therapy program offering early intervention and outpatient therapy;
• and YMCA of Greater Richmond, to support its Power Scholars Academy, a summer enrichment program for at-risk students.

Lego previously donated to Richmond nonprofit organizations in 2022, giving $215,000 to the Science Museum of Virginia and $100,000 to the Children’s Museum of Richmond.

Lego’s Chesterfield County facility is expected to create 1,760 area jobs over 10 years, and the company is currently recruiting for its nearby external packing facility. Lego previously announced it planned to hire more than 500 employees by the end of this year to work in a temporary facility packaging toy kits produced elsewhere.

Production in the permanent facility is expected to begin in 2025. The manufacturing plant will have 13 buildings spanning more than 1.7 million square feet, with office spaces; molding, processing and packing buildings; and a warehouse.

Lego established its U.S. entity, Lego Systems, in 1973. The toymaker has more than 3,000 employees and more than 100 stores in the United States, including four in Virginia — in Arlington, McLean, Virginia Beach and Woodbridge.