'Giving Machines' let you donate to needy families anonymously, and the first one is incredibly successful

"Giving Machines" have sprung up to give people a chance to anonymously help people in their community and around the world, and the first results are amazingly promising.

The machine lets a person buy something as inexpensive as 10 laundry pods for $2, or a school uniform for $35, up to items costing $320. Other items include livestock, food, medicine, and sports equipment.

A machine in Las Vegas has already collected $142,000 in donations with over 7,000 transactions. And that was only after two weeks of operation.

Ten machines are set to operate to collect charitable donations this holiday season. They will be installed in cities including San Jose, California, New York City, London, and Denver, Colorado.

The initiative has partnered with other charities to help spread the donations to appropriate recipients.

"It's a great learning tool to bring your families, to bring the children, and recognize the multitude of areas that need assistance, to teach kids that lesson of compassion and sharing, and paying it forward, particularly now during the holidays," said Utah Food Bank President and CEO Ginette Bott of the initiative.

The endeavor is being organized by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Here's a local news video about the Giving Machines:

Giving Machine makes Las Vegas debut at Downtown Summerlinwww.youtube.com