Kingston drivers who park illegally and pay their tickets will be helping to keep the shelves stocked at local food banks next month.
A month-long campaign was given the green light by city councillors this week and will see all revenue brought in through parking tickets over the month of March donated to food banks and food pantries.
“I’m going to encourage people to come out and pay those fines because at least now you know that fine is going to a really good cause,” said Coun. Conny Glen, who brought the idea forward at the council’s Tuesday night meeting.
Glenn said she wanted to do something to help after hearing from students in her riding who told her the student food banks were struggling to keep up with demand.
She said the council looked to the city’s annual Toys for Tickets program for inspiration.
Started in 2005, the annual Toys for Tickets campaign allows anyone who gets 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.
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The latest ticket campaign, dubbed “Fines for Food” is expected to bring in as much as $180,000 over the month, according to numbers from the city.
The money raised will be spread to all local food banks, including the ones at Queen’s University and St. Lawrence College, Glenn said.
And by donating the fines directly, food banks will have the discretion to use the cash for other things, like diapers and baby formula, she added.
“We’re looking at food security – how can we participate and help make Kingston more food secure,” Glenn said. “All of our food banks and food pantries are going to benefit.”
Dan Irwin, executive director at Kingston’s Partners in Mission Food Bank, says news of the pilot program couldn’t come at a better time.
He said the food bank is currently helping around 100 families every day, and demand continues to rise.
“We appreciate the recognition that food is an issue for many,” Irwin told Global News on Wednesday. “The food bank is not here to solve food insecurity, we’re here to help with a very necessary Band-Aid each month, so the city recognizing that there’s people like us doing these things is wonderful.”
Glenn says the city will look at the impact the campaign had after the month is over to consider next steps, but because the money brought in through parking ticket fines normally go towards city services its not likely to become a permanent fundraiser.
“We can’t continue to do this long term – we have a lot of different things that we have to take care of – but this is at least a way … to support the food banks,” she said. “I’m hopeful that at least this initiative right now will give them a little bit of a boost.”
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