This isn’t the first time that the Giving Machine has been up and running, but it doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have the same incredible impact it’s had in the past. The idea behind it is that it works the same as a normal vending machine, but unlike the usual types of vending machines, this one allows people to make charitable donations for others.
Also known as #LightTheWorld, these Giving Machines are situated in certain cities throughout the United States, where the gift giving initiative allows them to give these charitable donations to fellow Americans through both local and global causes.
This type of giving tends to come from those spontaneous yet selfless givers that appreciate being able to buy helpful albeit strange gifts from a vending machine to give to those in need. Buyers can purchase anything from backpacks or soccer balls, to a goat or a couple of chickens, to polio vaccines or an entire household cleaning kit, and even wheelchairs and medical supplies.
Whenever someone makes a purchase using their credit card, the Giving Machine gives out a postcard with a photo and description of the item they’re donating.
There are 10 cities nationwide that will carry these amazing vending machines, with one of them to be placed in New York City’s Rockefeller Center close to the very popular Rockefeller Christmas tree. The machine was inaugurated on November 30, which is the very day that’s nicknamed as “Giving Tuesday.” A number of charities such as UNHCR, UNICEF, the Mariano Rivera Foundation, CARE, WaterAid, and others gave speeches as well.
Notably, this isn’t the first year that the Giving Machine was put into practice. It first made an appearance in Salt Lake City, Utah back in 2017 where the sponsoring organization holds its headquarters, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
When the Utah pilot program first began, it yielded an impressive amount of donations that totaled more than half a million dollars. And just one year later, the amount of donations was even more, reaching over $2.3 million with a total of 92,190 transactions using the Giving Machine.
By 2019, the program was expanded, with donations reaching a whopping $6.2 million, including two machines in cities outside the United States in London, and in Manila, which is the capital of the Philippines.
2020 made the initiative impossible due to COVID, but this year, the Giving Machines are not only back, but they are located in 10 separate U.S. cities while the sponsoring church choosing to cover all the administrative costs for this special campaign to ensure that ‘100 percent of each donation goes to each charity.’
The following locations is where the Giving Machines will be located throughout the entire 2021 Christmas season, all of which are already active.
• Las Vegas, Nevada– downtown Summerlin Mall
• Nashville, Tennessee– 18 Bridgestone Arena
• Honolulu, Hawaii– Pearlridge Center
• Orem, Utah– University Place Mall
• Salt Lake City, Utah– City Creek Center
• Oakland, California– Temple Hill
• Gilbert, Arizona– Water Tower Plaza
• Denver, Colorado– Writer Square
• Kansas City, Missouri– Crown Center
• New York City, New York– Rockefeller Plaza
As shared on GNN, the Giving Machine will have more than two dozen choices for charity initiatives that have a variety of things to gift, such as:
Meal for a Family
Warm Blanket
Five Sleeping Mats
Solar Lantern
Winter Clothing
One Tent
One Pair of Gloves
One Dozen Pairs of Socks
Two Winter Scarves
Winter Boots
Weekly Metro Card
Two Basketballs
One Month of Meals
Emergency WASH Kit
Polio Vaccines for 100 Kids
Five Menstrual Care Kits
Rainwater Storage Tank
Water Pump
Install a Well
Two Chickens
One Goat
Household Cleaning Kit
One Laptop
A Day at Yankee Stadium
WaterAid
Portable Vaccine Carrier
Spiritual Care of Seniors
Protect a Health Care Worker
Passover Meal for Two People
Back in 2019, there was a total of 255,814 items that were bought from the ten different Giving Machines that were located all over. Interestingly, the five top items and the number of times they were purchased are as follows:
- Three chickens (31,006 transactions)
- 100 polio vaccines (15,132 transactions)
- Take-home meals for a child (12,623 transactions)
- One sheep (10,187 transactions)
- Box of fresh produce (9,730 transactions)
This yearly nonprofit Latter-day Saint Charity’s #LightTheWorld holiday initiative is said to be “an invitation to all to make the most of the Christmas season by giving, one person at a time – in homes, in communities, and around the globe.”
And maybe, hopefully someday soon, it will be one incredible advocacy that will be practiced in every corner of the globe.
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