Federal Way man to sell fun bricks to benefit single moms at Taste of Tacoma

While his product seems a bit unusual for Taste of Tacoma, Federal Way resident Michael Garcia is hoping he’ll be able to sell all 3,000 of his “fun bricks” at the Taste, which runs from June 27-29 at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma.

By Greg Allmain • June 23, 2014 9:40 pm
Federal Way resident Michael Garcia created Fun Bricks as a way to fundraise for single mothers. The brick is made of foam and has a small digital sound device inside.
Federal Way resident Michael Garcia created Fun Bricks as a way to fundraise for single mothers. The brick is made of foam and has a small digital sound device inside.

While his product seems a bit unusual for Taste of Tacoma, Federal Way resident Michael Garcia is hoping he’ll be able to sell all 3,000 of his “fun bricks” at the Taste, which runs from June 27-29 at Point Defiance Park in Tacoma.

Garcia’s fun brick is essentially a foam brick with a small digital sound device inside of it, one which he believes would be great for sports teams and other similar ideas. Garcia says the plan is to still use whatever revenue streams that can be raised from the Fun Brick to help out those most in need.

“We’re just trying to create a revenue stream to help single moms,” he said. “At the end of the day, whenever that day is, we want to start putting money into a fund to help single moms.”

In an interview with the Mirror last August, Garcia elaborated more on what the plan is for the Fun Brick.

“”We see that there’s a huge need, in the economic downturn like we’re in now…The ones that get hurt the most, are always single moms with kids. Because it’s either welfare, or they’re Section 8, or medical for the kids or for them, or schooling for them,” he said last August. “Those are five things right there that affected them, and not one of those things affected me at all. (This) has been in our hearts all these years, and I thought a better way to do this is to create somewhere where it will sustain somebody. Because the state of Washington, they can only do so much. And their hands are tied by all their rules and stuff like that. We’re not in this to make money for ourselves.”

For anyone who visits Garcia’s booth at Taste of Tacoma, they’ll be able to buy a Fun Brick for $10, which is a relatively reduced rate for the product. Garcia also said that part of his next step for the project is to set up a page on the popular crowdsourcing fundraising site, GoFundMe. He’ll have different levels, with the basic level beginning at $25, which earns a person a single Fun Brick. The levels will increase, with some impressive rewards along the way.

Garcia is slated to be in vendor stall 50 at the Taste of Tacoma. For more information on the event, visit www.tasteoftacoma.com.