GILBERT, Arizona — The Light the World Giving Machines opened under the historic Water Tower in downtown Gilbert last week, and, for the first time, an additional pair of mobile units arrived in Flagstaff and will make their way around Arizona during the holidays.
The Giving Machines are part of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ “Light the World” initiative, making it easy to donate to a charity through “reverse” vending machines. They can be found in 28 cities this year.
Elder Michael A. Dunn, General Authority Seventy and counselor in the presidency of the North America Southwest Area, said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday, Nov. 18, he hoped the kick off to the Giving Machines would kick off a season of “respite from the rancor and tumult and incivility of this world, and … where we’ve been so focused on what we take and what we can get, instead, turn our focus on what we can give.”
“May we, as we go forward now to cut the ribbon on the season and this machine, be more committed to what we can truly give,” he said, “and not just in our money and our resources, but what can we give personally to make someone’s life better, to lift and to love as Jesus would.”
“May we, as we celebrate this Giving Machine, ourselves turn into ‘giving machines’ in terms of being willing to share and to sacrifice and really be a part of the greater good — the celebration of light and truth and goodness — which is this season.”
He added: “There is a possibility of a better world through giving and through doing more, and not only that, but doing it through community, through doing it together just as we have gathered here today.”
The gathering included invited civic, faith and community leaders as well as local media and those representing the local and global charities that will benefit from this year’s donations to the Giving Machines.
Steven Lowder, who, with his wife, Fran, have served as local directors of the East Valley Giving Machines in Gilbert since they first debuted in 2017, told the audience “the initiative focuses a light on kindness, on joy, on service, on worship, and on giving. It helps us to love as God loves us.”
“The Giving Machines are a memorable, simple, yet personal and touching way to participate in giving during the holiday season,” he said. “They allow us to not only provide finance to those organizations that need it, they allow us to drop cards in a machine — whether it’s for a sewing machine or 100 meals or a soccer ball or a scholarship for an African girl. As every card drops into that machine, it lifts another, but it also lifts the giver and it unites us. In this world where there are so many things that try to divide us, it brings us together.”
He continued, “The Giving Machine experience — and it is an experience for you, your loved ones, your friends and your family — teaches our children the doctrine of giving, it helps our teenagers to be thankful for what they have, it brings simple appreciation to adults, and for our elderly it helps them to be grateful that these things are being passed on from generation to generation.”
Dr. Grace Faraja Nkundabantu, founder of African Girls Hope Foundation, represented the international nonprofit included in the East Valley Giving Machines and at two other locations.
“It means to world to us to be included,” said Nkundabantu after the ceremony. “We see the great hope of a lives changing through this Giving Machine – that girls are going to get to change through education. This is a great opportunity that is going to help us do the work that we’re doing on the ground there in Africa, by giving a girl an opportunity to go to school.”
Nkundabantu explained that going to school in Africa is not free for all ages, so if parents do not have money, the children stay home.
As a refugee herself, she recalled spending much of her time in camps, trying to survive as a part of a family of seven while conflict and strife raged in her homeland, Democratic Republic of the Congo. She was eventually able to come to the U.S., where she received a formal education, including a masters and doctorate degree.
She said she was inspired to “give back; pass on the blessings” and her focus turned to giving hope to the girls of Africa. She started her nonprofit foundation in 2018.
“I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I started with faith,” she said. There are now 165 girls being sponsored with tuition and essential supplies to receive an education.
Elder John W. Lewis, an Area Seventy and former mayor of Gilbert, who also spoke to the audience, said nonprofits such as Nkundabantu’s “light the world every minute of the day, and we thank you — you make the world a better place.”
Karl Cheney, who oversees the global Giving Machine effort through the Church’s Missionary Department, said the Church is partnering with nearly 125 nonprofit organizations in the Light the World Giving Machines initiative worldwide.
“It is an experience to come to these machines, to look at these items, and to listen for the spirit of God to speak to you and direct you as to what you ought to be doing and who you could share your light with today. This is a divinely inspired program.”
He said he has traveled the world and have visited with some direct recipients of these donations. “They are not looking for a handout,” he said, “they absolutely are looking for a hand up.”
He said they often express to him their appreciation for what’s being done for them, and wish for him to let others know.
Since the initiative launched in 2017, $15 million has been donated through Light the World Giving Machines, and, according to Church leaders, since it is sponsored and fully funded by the Church, 100% of every donation received goes directly to the charity of choice.
In Arizona, the Giving Machines will be at two locations through the holidays:
- East Valley — Gilbert, Nov. 18-Jan. 2, at Water Tower Plaza, 45 W. Page Ave.
- West Valley — Glendale, Nov. 22-Jan. 7, at Murphy Park, 7010 N. 58th Ave.
The mobile Giving Machines will be available in:
- Flagstaff, Nov. 17-Dec. 1, at Heritage Square, 22 E. Aspen Ave.
- Gila Valley, Dec. 3-15, at Safford City Hall, 717 W. Main St., Safford.
- Tucson, Dec. 17-Jan. 1, at Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway Blvd.
Those unable to visit a machine in person can still participate by making an online donation at LightTheWorld.org/give.
See more photos from the Gilbert ribbon cutting in the photo gallery below.
