You can help your community through ‘The Miracle Box’ vending machine
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AMMON — With the holiday season in full swing, “The Miracle Box” has returned to the Ammon Broulim’s to provide community members with an opportunity to help those in need.
The Miracle Box was started last year by the Bearing the Light Foundation, which works with local teachers to fulfill the unmet needs of students. The Miracle Box is a vending machine that has various cards inside with items (and prices) on them that are available for community members to purchase. The donations will go to help local nonprofits and charities.
“They can donate to (places such as) Snake River Animal Shelter, Shepherd’s Inn, Salvation Army or The Giving Cupboard,” Shadie Bigelow, who helps manage the Bearing the Light Foundation, said. “It’s one location where our community can come together to help donate to our community. It all stays within our community, from Shelley to Rexburg and many more places in east Idaho.”
Some of the items available to purchase are diapers for one month, money to help families heat their home, meals for the hungry, newborn welcome home baskets, toys and a warm coat. The goal is to raise $50,000.
This year, two local families who have been dealing with cancer have also been included in The Miracle Box:
- Michael Ballard: a husband and father who has fought breast cancer twice and thyroid cancer over the past few years.
- Oliver Orme: who was diagnosed with leukemia at 5 years old. He finished chemotherapy in October 2024 and rang the bell. However, a few weeks later, it was discovered he had relapsed.
There are various amounts ranging from $20 to $400 that community members can donate, and that specific amount will be given to help those families.
“Every dollar they donate truly goes to the family or nonprofit of their choosing,” said Bigelow, adding that Bearing the Light Foundation is covering all the credit card processing fees and any operating costs. “Everything is covered by our foundation, so every dollar is going where they want it to.”
Richard Broulim, Broulim’s chief operating officer, said the compnay is honored to be the host location of The Miracle Box.
“We care so much about our local communities (and) supporting our local communities that have supported us as a small family business to get where we’re at,” Broulim explained. “We look for any and every opportunity to give back and be truly rooted in our communities.”
He encourages people to stop by the Ammon Broulim’s and visit The Miracle Box.
“We’ve had families in the store that will come in for a family night out where they are teaching their children about charity … and they come and take part in The Miracle Box,” he said.
Broulim’s will give all those who donate to The Miracle Box a free fresh doughnut as a way to say thank you.
Local businesses are also going to be matching donations every day. For example, if someone donates $50 to the Snake River Animal Shelter, then whichever business is matching that day, $100 would actually go to the shelter.
“I hope our community feels inspired to come out and uplift each other and give a little more hope this holiday season,” Bigelow said.
The Miracle Box will stay up and running until 7 p.m. on Christmas Eve. If you can’t make it in person to The Miracle Box, donations can be made here.
Our attorneys tell us we need to put this disclaimer in stories involving fundraisers: EastIdahoNews.com does not assure that the money deposited to the account will be applied for the benefit of the persons named as beneficiaries.