A hygiene kit, garden materials, meal boxes, kitchen items, one week of tutoring and shoelaces are among the items you can donate through two vending machines currently stationed at Park Place Mall.
With the swipe of a credit card and the press of a few buttons, you're supporting one of six nonprofits, five of which are local.
The vending machines are dubbed Light the World Giving Machines, provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The machines launched in 2017 and are set up allover the world, from Australia to the Philippines to several cities in the United States. This is the first time the church has set up a Giving Machine in Tucson, after spending a couple weeks in both Gila Valley and Flagstaff earlier this month.
The machines will be at Park Place until Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.
The Giving Machines are provided by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and set up around the world.
Here's how it works:
Head to Park Place Mall, 5870 E. Broadway. The two side-by-side machines are set up in the center of the mall, right next to Santa.
Inside the machines are dozens of cards: a $6 donation for socks and gloves to Sister José Women's Center; $7 for pet food donated to Interfaith Community Services; $25 for vegetable seedlings to the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona; $45 for a child's backpack to Casa Alitas through the Catholic Community Services; $75 for a car seat and stroller for the International Rescue Committee in Tucson; even an $86 goat to provide a family with milk and fertilizer through the Church World Service.
Click here for a look at everything you can donate at the Tucson machines. (Two very generous people donated one of everything within the first half hour of the machines opening on Saturday.)
Six organizations are beneficiaries of Tucson's Giving Machines.
Decide what you'd like to donate, swipe your credit card and you're pretty much done. The church says 100% of the donations will be used for the "purchased item, similar items, or services of greater need as determined by the applicable charitable organization."
If you can't make it to a vending machine in person, you can donate online. All of the nonprofits are listed, including many that aren't featured in Tucson's vending machines.
"We love this concept. Placing the Light the World Giving Machines in the mall is a great way to remind shoppers of the needs of our community," Malea Chavez, CEO of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, said in a press release. "Being able to choose whether you want to donate vegetable seedlings, community meals, or hygiene items helps people see what a difference their donation makes."
