Light the World Giving Machines Return to Times Square

People passing through Times Square this Christmas season can lift others again by donating to a Light the World Giving Machine.

Dozens of people gathered on the morning of Monday, December 2, 2024, at the popular New York City destination to unveil this year’s giving-focused vending machines. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sponsors each machine.

“These Giving Machines afford all of us a very unique giving experience,” said Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson. “Rather than purchasing a soda or a treat, we have the opportunity to bless those who are most vulnerable, to care for those in need, to address the needs of our neighbors — both those who live right around the corner from us and those who live on the other side of the world.”

This year, visiting a Giving Machine is easier than ever, as they are in more than 100 cities in 13 countries on five continents — including the first in Africa and Asia.

More than 500 local and international nonprofit organizations are participating in this year’s Giving Machine initiative. This year’s global charities are The Academy for Creating Enterprise, the American Red Cross, Care, Catholic Relief Services, Church World Service, Days for Girls International, iDE Global, Lifting Hands International, MAP International, Mentors International, Right to Play, Save the Children, UNICEF, Water Aid, and the World Food Program USA. Among the items available are food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education, job and career training, and livestock.

Representatives from these organizations were present at Monday’s event.

Michael J. Nyenhuis, president and CEO of UNICEF USA, encouraged Giving Machine patrons to think locally, nationally and globally “because we are all neighbors.” He said that donations to a Giving Machine will help UNICEF come closer to its goal of eradicating polio.

“You can be a part of the global effort to eradicate polio by buying polio vaccines out of the Giving Machines this year,” Nyenhuis said.

World Food Program (WFP) USA President and CEO Barron Segar said the machines offer school lunches for children.

“We are very proud of this collaboration with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Segar said. “We ask everybody to get involved. It’s the spirit of giving. Let’s all give back and make sure those who start with a plate of food end with a plate of food every single day.”

CARE’s Chief Marketing Officer Monica Rowe noted the possibility of buying two chickens to help feed a family.

“The Light the World Giving Machine campaign provides us with an opportunity to show the world our kindness, our generosity, and our compassion,” Rowe said.

Days for Girls CEO Tiffany Larson said Giving Machine donations offer a variety of products to help women and girls worldwide go to school, work, and take care of families. These include washable period products that last for over two years, a postpartum kit for a new mother, or a pack of menstrual health education sessions for girls.

“We are thrilled to be a part of the Giving Machine initiative this year,” Larson said. “This work doesn’t just change lives — it transforms futures.”

Jed Stevenson of Mentors International said his organization offers services such as chicken, goats, seed packets, sewing kits and fruit trees.

“We can help people see a path forward,” he said. “As you have an opportunity to give back [through a Giving Machine], just know that these simple gifts are truly lifting generations and showing people the way forward.”

Since 2017, millions of items (valued at over US$32 million) have been donated through Giving Machines. The Church of Jesus Christ covers all program operational expenses, ensuring that 100% of every donation is used to provide those in need with the item a generous donor has purchased.

“It has been a pleasure for us to collaborate with 15 global nonprofits and hundreds of [local] nonprofits to bless the needs of our neighbors all over the world,” President Johnson said. “This is about serving people. It’s about serving our neighbors — including women and children. When you bless the life of a woman, you bless a family, a community, and a nation. When you bless a child, you invest in the future.”

The Light the World initiative is blessing people in New York in other ways. The Church of Jesus Christ in New York is collaborating with some 60 faith-based organizations on more than 60 projects to bless over 40,000 children and families in the New York metro area.

Local Latter-day Saints gathered over 250 representatives of these and other organizations at a Monday night reception at the Marriot Marquis in New York City. Elder David R. Marriott, an Area Seventy in the Church’s North America Northeast Area, thanked those in attendance for the significant contribution that so many of them make to bless the lives of children in the New York metro area.

“Light the world is an invitation to transform the world at this time by turning it into a time of service,” he said. “When we look outside of ourselves, and we look for ways to bless the communities and the people with whom we associate, it is a worldwide movement to touch the hearts and the minds and the lives of others, by sacrifice, by giving, by sharing of ourselves, by sharing of our means, by sharing of our time and sharing of our talents.”

Former New York Attorney General Robert Abrams praised the good done by collaborating on common causes.

“You know, folks, the world is not in a very good place. There’s division. There’s a real hostility. There’s a lack of trust,” Abrams said. “But that’s not true about this room. You look around this room, and it’s just the opposite. There’s mutual respect. There’s goodwill. Indeed, there’s love, there’s understanding. And that’s what life in the world should be all about.”

Amiris Perez, president and cofounder of Mujeres de Ayer, Hoy y Siempre in Newark, New Jersey (a participating organization), said the Light the World initiative has helped her organization “help [women and children] cope with problems they have at home” and to “bring happiness to those faces that have lost their faith in Christmas.”

Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, executive vice president of the New York Board of Rabbis, and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles echoed these sentiments.

“I remember years ago when Dave Checketts was president of Madison Square Garden,” Rabbi Potasnik said. “In those days, you actually got a printed paper ticket for an event. And [on the ticket] were written the words, ‘No good if detached.’ And I say to all of you, we’re not going to be our best if we’re detached from one another. May we continue to bring light and love to one another. We are believers of different traditions but belong to one human family.”

“What a thrill when we’re all children of the same Father in Heaven, that we can be united in doing something that blesses the most vulnerable, His children that are here on the earth,” Elder Cook added.