Parking tickets turn into hundreds of toys for Kingston kids

Scofflaw parkers have brought hundreds of toys for Kingston kids this holiday season.

The City of Kingston’s annual Toys for Tickets program is reporting a total of 275 new toys have been collected through this year’s campaign, doubling the number of toys brought in last year.

“We want to extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated in Toys for Tickets this year,” Dan Hazell, supervisor of enforcement services, said in a release Tuesday.

“Thanks to your generous contributions, many kids in our community are going to have a very special holiday.”

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Started in 2005, Toys for Tickets allowed anyone who received a parking ticket between Nov. 1 and Dec. 3 to donate an unwrapped toy of equal or greater value to their ticket instead of paying the fine.

The toys are delivered to the Salvation Army for distribution to families in need, the city has said.

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The city says it waived more than $6,410 in parking fees through this year’s campaign.

Nearly 4,000 toys have been donated through Toys for Tickets since 2005, according to numbers from the city.