Bundled up in coats and beanies, more than 10,000 students at Brigham Young University welcomed a handful of Light the World Giving Machines to the university’s campus this Monday night.
Excited to have these big red vending machines for charity on campus for the very first time since the initiative began in 2017, many of these students quickly lined up with backpacks in hand, ready to contribute what they could to help others in need around the world.
“In college we’re scrimping and saving,” said BYU student Donny Beyer. But he added that “when you have nothing to give is when you have the most to give.
“So I think it’s really awesome being here and seeing all these students who are in the same boat trying to get by on little money, and we’re still willing to go and give and try to serve.”
The Giving Machine launch at BYU’s campus was held as part of one of the university’s “Nights of Light” celebrations, which have been organized to commemorate the school’s sesquicentennial through the 2025-2026 school year.
At this most recent “Nights of Light” event, students also celebrated the school and the joy of the Christmas season with musical performances, a live Nativity, a light show and a Christmas tree lighting countdown — the first known to ever take place on the university’s campus.
“Tonight, we’re celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ,” said BYU President C. Shane Reese at Monday’s “Nights of Light” celebration.
“We felt like on this campus, where we’re trying to become a Christ-centered, prophetically directed university of prophecy, what better way to celebrate Christmas than to have our sesquicentennial be a night of celebration of that event,… the birth of our Savior.”
During the celebration, a spirit of giving also filled students’ hearts as they began donating funds and serving as Christ would.
The Giving Machine initiative “helps to point us away from ourselves and towards others,” said BYU student Sydney Landini.
This is “exactly what Jesus Christ would do,” she said. And it “just brings me a lot of joy to be able to know that I’m helping others like Christ would.”
BYU student Aaron Essilfie attended the celebration with his wife and baby, and said that for his young family, Christmas is a “time of renewal, a time of giving (and) a time of peace.”
“We will definitely go there to (donate) just a little bit for our friends, wherever they may be, so that they can also feel the spirit of giving and the spirit of Christ this season,” he said.
In previous years, the closest Giving Machines to the BYU campus in Provo were hosted in Orem’s University Place mall, located an approximately 10 minute drive away.
The machines to stay on campus through this Christmas season will facilitate contributions made by BYU’s students and faculty — particularly those with limited means of transportation.
Coupled with the contributions made by others at Giving Machines worldwide, 100% of all contributions made this year will then go to aid thousands around the world by providing them with items and services ranging from goats and chickens, to business mentoring and menstrual health education.
To see a full list of the 126 cities in 21 countries that are hosting the machines this year, click here. To see a calendar of the university’s upcoming “Nights of Light” celebrations and other events, visit 150.byu.edu.
