The following is excerpted from the Church Newsroom. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
Since Light the World Giving Machines were first introduced for the 2017 Christmas season, thousands of donations have been made through charitable organizations in Africa. One of those charitable organizations, Church World Service, has fulfilled donations to 25,000 recipients of chickens, goats, beehives and more. These donations have been life changing for people. Giving Machines throughout the world have featured donatable items bound for Africa, but no Giving Machines were in Africa.
On Saturday, November 30, 2024, Giving Machines were introduced to the African continent for the first time. The Giving Machines were unveiled at a launch event at host mall Sarit in Nairobi, Kenya. In bringing Giving Machines to Nairobi, the Area Presidency of the Africa Central Area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wanted to create the opportunity for Africans to give to Africans. To that end, three Giving Machines are at Sarit, the busiest mall in East Africa with over 25,000 mall patrons per day.
The grand opening of the Giving Machines took place Saturday, November 30, 2024 at Sarit. At precisely 11:50 a.m., 10 choirs located throughout the four levels of Sarit began singing What Child Is This. The 10 choirs walked toward the Giving Machines on floor one of the mall, carolling all the way. The choirs converged at the Giving Machines, forming a 177 member choir with singers from around Nairobi, including 13 from West Pokot County in Kenya. The West Pokot choir members traveled 12 hours by bus to come to the grand opening. All from West Pokot are past beneficiaries of the generosity of people through Giving Machines. The large and beautiful choir performed four more numbers during the grand opening ceremony.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
