Sitting in the Fountain Square Mall is a red vending machine. Cards inside have things such as fresh produce, a school backpack and a tutoring session written on them. With just a few taps, people can purchase and donate these items directly to charities all over the world.
Part of a global initiative launched in 2016, the Light the World Giving Machine gives people the opportunity to donate essential items to local and global charities during the holiday season. The machine located in the Fountain Square Mall in Bloomington is one of 126 located around the world this year. It is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Heather Vaught, assistant communications director for the local chapter of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said items available for purchase range from $3 to $200 each. A one-hour tutoring session costs $25, a food box is $75, a year of school tuition is $150 and a goat to give a refugee family food security is $150.
“It's very personal,” she said. “You get to choose what you give, no matter how much it costs. You're choosing for somebody, and you may never meet that person, but it helps to have somebody in mind that you are choosing and you're giving from one person to another.”
People can donate to five local charities: Hoosier Hills Food Bank, Make-A-Wish Foundation, HATCH for Hunger, Dove Recovery House for Women and Brightlane Learning. The two global charities are Lifting Hands International and Right to Play.
“I think there's always a great need,” Vaught said. “The poor are always with us, and there are many needs and hard to meet them all, but we can all do something, even if it's just a little bit and all those somethings accumulate and have a great impact. So, I think every community needs the opportunity to donate.”
Vaught said Giving Machines have been in Indianapolis for the past two years and have raised over $400,000 since in the city alone. Since the first vending machine launched in Utah in 2017, $50 million has been raised for goods and services for people in need around the world. Vaught hopes the convenience of a vending machine attracts more people to donate.
“[It’s] an easy button to push for giving at Christmas time, because people are so busy,” she said. “People want to give, but you're so bogged down with Christmas programs and buying presents and all of the things. This is an easy button, and they're in shopping centers where people shop, and so it's easy just to go up to a giving machine and choose something.”
The Giving Machine will be in the Fountain Square Mall through Dec. 9. Hours are Monday-Friday 8 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-8 p.m. and Sunday 12 p.m.-7 p.m.
