Light the World Giving Machines are back for the Christmas and holiday season

SALT LAKE CITY — At first glance, they kind of look like those RedBox movie rental machines.

However, instead of a 2-hour movie, you can get someone something that will last a lot longer.

“All these kinds of things that advance people’s ability to be self-sufficient,” said Camille Johnson, president of the General Relief Society for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Isn’t that remarkable?”

Inside the special vending boxes are cards that give the gift of food, shelter or health care for someone in need.

Basically, it is a whole lot of relief.

“We are a community of brothers and sisters and the world feels small when you make that connection to someone in need,” said Johnson.

The Light the World Giving Machines have been around since 2017.

In the eight years since the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints started the program, it has grown.

Last year, there were 61 machines around the world. This year, 106 cities across thirteen countries on five continents, including the first locations in Africa and Asia, will have giving machines.

It has become a tradition for many families to donate to the Giving Machines, especially during the Christmas and holiday season.

“The small amount that each person gives aggregates itself into something meaningful that allows a gift that changes lives to take place,” said Elder Gary E. Stevenson, who is a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “There is a magic about it. Any location you give to, it doesn’t matter the age, the education, the social-economic. Anyone who is there feels something that is really special.”

When you purchase something from the machines, one hundred percent of your donation goes to one of more than 500 nonprofit organizations.

One of those organizations, Lifting Hands International, said the gift of a goat made a difference for a refugee family.

“A refugee can start with two and grow a herd,” said Jessica Arch, who is with Lifting Hands International. “That additional income gives them stability and self-sufficiency that they need to buy food or buy medicine or pay for children’s school fees and pay for their housing situation.”

Millions of items have been donated through these machines since the program began. The total value of those items is about $32 million.

In Utah, the Light the World Giving Machines are located in Salt Lake City, Ogden, Logan, Orem, and St. George.

For a full list of there the machines are located around this world, visit this link about the program.