Apostles Celebrate Surging Expansion of Giving Machines Initiative
The eruption of growth in one corner of Latter-day Saint efforts to care for the needy may not fully be on your radar, so let’s pause and take a look at some numbers surrounding the #LightTheWorld initiative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
2021: 10 cities with the big, red vending Giving Machines
2022: 28 cities
2023: 61 cities in seven countries
2024: 107 cities in 13 countries
The machines allow donors to walk up and purchase a beehive to help a family start a business far away in Africa or meals or clothing or glasses for a child in the donor’s own city. And 100% of the donation goes to helping, since overhead costs are paid for by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are invested in #LightTheWorld and the expansion of the Giving Machines initiative, Elder Gary E. Stevenson told me during an interview for the Deseret News at the Giving Machines launch event last week.
“When we think about the mission of the church, when we think about celebrating the birth of the Savior, we really couldn’t find anything that would be more focused, more filled with positive outcomes, more what one would think the Savior would like to see as a celebration of his birth and ministry than what the Giving Machine does,” he said.
Another marker of growth is the number of charitable partners involved in the Giving Machines. This year, more than 525 nonprofit organizations are collaborating with the church. About 15 are global charities. The rest are local charities in the areas involved in the communities with the machines this holiday season.
That number — 525-plus nonprofits — is a significant increase. It is more than were involved in the Giving Machines during the initiative’s first seven years combined, said Karl Cheney, the initiative’s manager.
Elder Stevenson celebrated the progress.
“When we started this with a few machines,” he said, “I don’t think anyone at that point in time thought that eight years later, we’d be announcing 106 machines with remarkable partners that help us put the commodities — the gifts that are chosen — into the places where they need to be with thousands and thousands and thousands of people, ordinary people doing something extraordinary with the push of a button at a Giving Machine location.”
During the 2023 holiday season, the machines raised $10.4 million in 600,000 donations. The previous six years with far fewer machines had generated 900,000 donations combined.
Another member of the Quorum of the Twelve, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, joined a Giving Machines launch event Friday in Hong Kong.
“It is wonderful to be working closely with a number of important charities in Hong Kong in this effort,” he said. “The opportunity to collaborate in lighting the world with these wonderful organizations allows us to more effectively provide meals, clean water, school supplies, toys and clothing to those truly in need.
“During this special season, may each of us follow our Savior Jesus Christ — the light of the world — by showing love, kindness, gratitude, and peace to all who we encounter.”
Here’s one final number: Last year, the machines in 61 cities offered 1,200 different types of items to purchase for donation. This year, the number mushroomed to 2,800, Cheney said.
And again, that is more than the number of items included in machines in the first seven years combined.
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Elder Gary E. Stevenson talks to KSL-TV at the Giving Machines launch event at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City on Nov. 13, 2024. (Tad Walch, Deseret News)
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles looks at offered donation selections at the Hong Kong Giving Machines on Nov. 15, 2024, at the New Town Plaza in Shatin, Hong Kong. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
