Vending Machines Raising $22 Million for Charities
to Open Next to Courthouse Plaza in Prescott this Holiday Season
Light the World Giving Machines allow you to purchase items like clothing,
baby supplies, medicine, and even a fruit tree or a goat for those in need.
Prescott, Arizona, Dec. 2, 2023 — The Light the World Giving Machine, the popular
“vending machine” that works in reverse, creating a memorable way to give to those in need during the Christmas season, will open to the public on Saturday, Dec. 2, in downtown Prescott. The machines will be operational 24 hours a day near the Courthouse Plaza at 119 W. Goodwin Street (Chamber of Commerce), where they will remain through Thursday, Dec. 14.
Launched in 2017, Giving Machines are provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and provide a unique opportunity for the community to give to local and global charities. Giving Machine items range in price from $5 to $300 and include staples such as clothing, personal hygiene, meals, school supplies, life-saving medicine, and even livestock. The Church covers all operational costs so that 100% of donations received at 61 locations worldwide go directly to the charity of choice.
“During these increasingly difficult times in our communities and the world, the Giving Machines offer us each a unique way to bless others while experiencing joy ourselves,” said Prescott resident Brett Mangum, a volunteer leader for the Light The World Giving Machines. “This is an experience that can be a family affair for a holiday memory or a deeply personal experience.”
This year, the Prescott Giving Machines will feature items from these local, state, and global nonprofit organizations:
- Prescott Area Shelter Services: PASS serves Prescott area women, families, and veterans by providing temporary housing, resources, individualized case management, and a pathway to permanent housing.
- The Launch Pad: Promoting confidence and empowerment, The Launch Pad is an all-inclusive, youth driven and focused space, providing programming that is culturally relevant to teens in Yavapai County.
- Life Connections: A local, non-medical pregnancy care center committed to providing accurate information and quality services to all women in any pregnancy situation. (The center does not offer, recommend, or refer for abortions or abortifacients.)
- Catholic Charities Community Services: For 90 years, Catholic Charities has been committed to helping Arizona’s most vulnerable with solutions that permanently improve lives.
- The Welcome to America Project: Arizona-based WTAP welcomes recently arrived refugees, creating meaningful interactions and providing resources that empower our new neighbors to reach self-sufficiency and positively impact the community.
- Mentors International: Lifting generations from poverty to self-reliance and prosperity through mentoring, business and vocational training, and microfinance.
- WaterAid: Transforming lives by improving access to clean water, hygiene, and sanitation in the world's poorest communities.
- “Catholic Charities is blessed to be part of such a unique charitable giving experience,” said Jean Christofferson, director of marketing & communications for Catholic Charities Community Services of Arizona. “We are looking forward to helping families enjoy the experience of helping the most vulnerable in our community.”
Courtney Osterfelt, the Executive Director of The Launch Pad Teen Center, said, “A community is made not by one leader or one governing body, but by a group of individuals coming together to create opportunities for all people to thrive, feel joy, and be cared for. Light the World is a perfect example of what it looks like to bring people together in the name of service, gratitude, and giving. The Launch Pad Teen Center is honored to be chosen as a recipient of The Giving Machine and even more honored to be a part of the collective effort to celebrate community and service in Prescott.”
Julie Plueger from Prescott Area Shelter Services said, “Prescott Area Shelter Services is grateful to be selected as one of the local charities to participate in [Prescott’s] inaugural year of the Light the World Giving Machine . . . Let’s Light the World this Christmas.”
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