Area residents will have an innovative new option for giving this holiday season. Donna Kelce, mother of Chiefs player Travis Kelce, and Tammy Reid, wife of head coach Andy Reid, will unveil a Giving Machine at 5:30 p.m. on November 21 at Union Station.
Light the World Giving Machines will offer donors 1,200 different charitable items this year. Donors can choose to give money to a local charity or to a global charity that might provide goats or piglets to a family or school tuition to an orphan. Worldwide, the machines have raised $22 million from 1.5 million donors in six years.
One of the charities is Foster Adopt Connect. It works with children, youth, and families as they navigate the complexities of the child welfare system. With the help of innovative tools, a dedicated professional staff, and over 20 years of experience working in the Kansas and Missouri foster care systems, we’re equipped to connect children with families that provide love, healing, and stability for a brighter future.
Travis Kelce, a defending Super Bowl champion who has been in the headlines this year for a relationship with Taylor Swift, has voiced support for the Giving Machine.
“Check out the Giving Machine,” he posted on social media. “It’s a big red box. You cannot miss it. Make sure you take the family down there and make a donation. Make someone else’s Christmas or holidays that much better. And as always, go Chiefs, baby.”
Kelce has been involved in different charity efforts, including Operation Breakthrough and Children’s Mercy Hospital. Other celebrities also have praised the Giving Machines in the past, including actor and Kansas City native Paul Rudd.
Tammy Reid and Tavia Hunt, wife of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, announced on Instagram that Giving Machines will be located inside the Grand Hall in Union Station. “Just look for Big Red .. I mean, for those big red vending machines full of items that go directly to those in need,” Hunt said. “Together, we can light the world.”
The Giving Machine will be open until January 1.
–Dwight Widaman | Metro Voice