Church Hosts Luncheon to Distribute Giving Machine Funds in Nairobi, Kenya

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The Christmas season is over, but the celebration continues as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints recently hosted a luncheon to distribute funds gathered from the three Giving Machine kiosks located at Sarit City Center in Nairobi, Kenya, to participating charities. 

The luncheon, held on February 18^th, 2026, was attended by representatives from the Africa Girls Hope Foundation, Church World Service, Girl Aid Foundation, iDE Global, Rahma Worldwide, and Kenya Red Cross, all recipients of the generosity of the donors who visited the Giving Machine Kiosks during the past holiday season.  Other invited guests included representatives from Sarit City Center, Church area leaders, and members of the Nairobi City Committee, who were responsible for planning and organizing the Giving Machines events for 2025.

 The Giving Machines in Nairobi are just a small part of the global ‘Light the World’ initiative that the Church launched back in 2017, and which has, as leader of the City Committee, Darius Mobe explained, “managed to raise 50 million U.S. dollars globally and this is spread across 21 countries and 6 continents.”  He went on to point out that “100% of all the donations that we are able to collect go to the NGOs (non-profit organizations) that participated in the campaign, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints acts as sponsor and foots all the related expenses that are required to make the campaign a success.”  

He went on to express his gratitude to Sarit City Center representatives for use of their facilities free of charge, for putting the word out, and for their tenants who came and donated to the machines, ending his remarks by saying, “We thank each and every person that participated.  We hope these funds will touch a life.”

In response, Daniel Mucho from Africa Girls Hope Foundation expressed his appreciation saying, “We want to thank you so much for helping us give hope to the kids that we have been assisting, and we will continue praying that God expands this work that you are doing.”

Likewise, Scott Muttersbaugh of Church World Service and Beth Waruguru representing Girl Aid Foundation both expressed their appreciation for being included in the program, as did Geoffrey Nuamota of iDE Global adding, “This is the first time, as iDE, we are actually participating in ‘Light the World Giving Machines’, but it’s not the first time the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is supporting iDE to touch the lives of people across the world.  So, I would want to sincerely thank you.”

This was not the first time that the Kenya Red Cross had participated in this initiative and their representative, Dr. Vinod Guptan, reported that throughout Nairobi last year they were able to assist 70 schools with safety measures, provide close to 300 street families with hot meals during the December holidays, give food hampers to settlements, and provide counseling sessions to families dealing with post-disaster trauma; because of the Giving Machine funds they received.

For her part, Keziah Kabuto, representing Sarit City Center remarked, “To the NGOs, congratulations, your work now begins.  Go out there and make the impact and go out there and bless the communities.”   And to the Church she added, “Thank-you, it has been our honor.” 

Explaining that the Giving Machines are just a small part of the Church’s charitable outreach, keynote speaker Elder George Munene, Area Seventy, reported that the Church gave over $1.4 billion in humanitarian aid last year worldwide.  “It just gives you a clue, in terms of what we do as an organization,” he stated, adding “Mine is just to thank you for being willing to participate with us.  This is just a seed that you have received.  Every seed bears a gigantic fruit.  In the Bible it talks about a small mustard seed and the possibilities that come out of that.  A mustard seed will turn into a great tree.  So that is what we’re looking and intending to do, making sure more people benefit from this program.”