Giving Machines give KC patrons a chance to give, not get, this holiday season
Red ‘Giving Machines,’ vending machines with a reverse twist, will return to Union Station later this year, with seven local charities featured in the fifth annual installment, Giving Machines KC announced in a news release Friday.
Set to return Nov. 22, the Giving Machines will include seven local charities visitors can donate to: Catholic Charities of Kansas City-St. Joseph, The Halo Foundation, Happy Bottoms, Science City, The Mayor’s Christmas Tree, Harvesters and Hillcrest Transitional Housing.
Days for Girls and Care International, two international charities, will also be featured.
The machines, which came to Kansas City in 2021 but started in 2017, operate similar to vending machines, only the main goal is to give instead of get. With the swipe of a debit or credit card, users can choose from a range of items to donate to a featured charity of their choice.
Including five new local recipients and two global ones featured this year, the Kansas City Giving Machines have helped 26 local and eight global charities, said Cindy McDavitt, chair of the Giving Machines Committee.
“We had Ronald McDonald House a few years ago and they had $5 to help care for their comfort dog, Benson. And they brought in enough with that because, you know, kids would go to the machines and say ‘I want the dog, I want the dog.’ It was $5. And they were able actually to purchase an additional comfort dog with that,” McDavitt told The Star.
The machines raised around $265,000 for charity in 2024 and have brought in over $1 million since 2021. This year, 130 cities worldwide will feature Giving Machines, a far cry from only 10 cities when the Kansas City Giving Machines started out.
“You know, usually the lowest item is maybe $3, but (a woman “down on her luck” once left) 12 cents, and she wanted to give it to someone in need. So we added to it, and bought something ... for her. She doesn’t know it, but we did,” McDavitt said. “So I love that story, because, you know, everybody wants to give, and that’s what we love about the Giving Machines.”
Giving Machines are part of the larger Light the World Initiative sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Light the World seeks to encourage others to “transform Christmas into a season of service,” according to an information page by the Church.
For more information on Kansas City Giving Machines, visit their website.
