ROSEDALE, Md. — It's LEGO night at the Eastside Shelter, and Mitch Villavaso, a 6th grader at St. Joseph's is there, bringing smiles to children at the shelter.
"At first I thought I was going to donate money, but then I realized that donating my time would be more valuable to them." Mitch told WMAR-2 News Jamie Costello.
Every week he collects LEGO’s and takes buckets over to a shelter for kids to play with. "I've always loved LEGOS and want to be an architect when I grow up, so I figured I could share my LEGOS, since I have a ton. I thought it would be a good idea for them to enjoy."
While Mitch is just a 6th grader, to the children at the Eastside Shelter, he's a bit of a celebrity to the children at the shelter, "It just makes me happy whenever they are happy."
Where to the LEGOS come from? "We get LEGOS as donations but most of them are mine that I've collected over the years."
Mitch is giving kids at the shelter an opportunity to forget their world, and reach into a bucket of LEGOS and create their own world. "I want to help them because they are coming from very little, and the kids never have anything to do for fun. I figured I'd come here once a week and they get to have a lot of fun with all the LEGOS that I bring."
"Everyone has a different perspective on how their home should be, but he takes them beyond that. They are building wonderful things. He gives them an imagination of hope," April Stevens said.
His mom, Lauren Villavaso, is beaming with pride. "He just wants kids to be happy and feel important and feel like they have a place in this world"
He loves it. They love him.
He calls it Mitch Bricks and it's funny that his plan is to building a better world.
