Parking and Transportation Services Offers Option to Pay Citations With Donations

Video produced by UK Public Relations and Marketing.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 2, 2017) — Last year, Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) piloted a program — Donations for Citations — that allowed students, faculty and staff to waive one regular citation of $25 by donating 10 nonperishable food items or five personal care items. Throughout the two-week donation period, 2,441 pounds of food and 381 pounds of personal care items were donated to Big Blue Pantry — an on-campus resource that serves UK students who are experiencing food insecurity or hunger.

"When we started the program last year, we weren't sure how it would be received on campus. I think it's fair to say that both our department and Big Blue Pantry were overwhelmed by the results," said Chrissie Tune, PTS communications officer.

Because of the success of the program last year, PTS decided to continue the program this year. PTS will accept nonperishable goods — including food and personal care items — through Friday, March 10, in exchange of waiving one regular parking citation of $25 or less. UK Parking and Transportation customers — including students, faculty, staff and visitors — are eligible to participate in Donations for Citations. All donations will once again go to UK's Big Blue Pantry.

Any UK student with a valid UK ID is eligible to receive nonperishable goods from the Big Blue Pantry, located in Rooms 23-25 in White Hall Classroom Building. Big Blue Pantry's spring 2017 hours can be found here: www.ukcco.org/programs/bigbluepantry/.

Big Blue Pantry Director Becca Kouba said Donations for Citations was a tremendous success last year.

"Last year after Donations for Citations ended, we actually saw an increase in people wanting to help, donate and volunteer," Kouba said. "We also saw a slight increase in people receiving our resources and our assistance. It was a help all around."

The following nonperishable food items will be accepted: canned fruit, cereal, instant oatmeal, pasta, rice, pasta sauce, jams and jellies, condiments, canned tuna or canned chicken, and nut butter. The following personal care items will be accepted: shampoo, hand soap, hand sanitizer, toilet paper (minimum size of four-pack), toothpaste, shaving cream, razors and tampons.

Donations will not be accepted if: 

• Items are expired, damaged or opened.
• Items require refrigeration.
• Items are in a glass container.
• Items are trial size.

Donations for Citations waivers are only valid for one regular fine of $25 or less. This does not include immobilizations, impoundments, parking in fire lanes, ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible parking violations or improper application or use of parking permits.

Customers may only have one eligible citation waived as part of the Donations for Citations drive. Customers with multiple unpaid citations must pay all other outstanding citations in order to have one waived under the program. Citations waived through the Donations for Citations program are not eligible for appeal.

"During the initial campaign of Donations for Citations last year, we found that our customers were also really enthusiastic about it. Some would bring a lot more than the 10 items or the five items. They were very excited to participate in the program and help students on UK's campus," Tune said.

"It connects the community into a better respect and a better vision of what brings us all together which is trying to create a better life for each other," Kouba said.

For more information about Donations for Citations, visit www.uky.edu/pts/donationsforcitations.