SAFFORD — “Picture yourself, for a moment, walking up to a vending machine and putting money into it. But instead of getting a treat for yourself, you’re actually donating to a charity,” said Brenda Christiansen.
That concept becomes a reality Saturday, when the traveling Giving Machines begin a two-week stop in Safford.
Giving Machines function the same as any other vending machine — after inserting money, the donor chooses which nonprofit with receive the funds. A card drops and donors are encouraged to take a selfie of themselves with the cards, and share those photos on social media.
Donors have their choice of donating to a local organization, statewide or nationwide charities, or an organization doing charity work on a global scale.
There will be two machines in the Gila Valley, located in front of Safford City Hall, at the corner of Main Street and 8th Avenue, and the machines’ opening will be celebrated with a ribbon-cutting Saturday at 5 p.m. There will also be remarks from representatives of local nonprofit organizations that can receive donations and a choir of school children from across the Gila Valley will perform.
It’s the second stop of three for the mobile Giving Machines in Arizona this holiday season. The machines were in Flagstaff Nov. 17 through Dec. 1, will be in Safford Dec. 3-15, and finish in Tucson Dec. 17 through Jan. 1.
The machines are an initiative of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and started in 2017 in four cities — Manila, Philippines; London, England; Salt Lake City and Gilbert. This year, Giving Machines will be in 28 cities in North America, the Philippines and Australia; with nine additional cities hosting the mobile machines.
