PTS Program Collects More Than 2,500 Pounds of Donations for Big Blue Pantry

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 24, 2016) — Through a pilot program — Donations for Citations — University of Kentucky Parking and Transportation Services (PTS) accepted non-perishable goods Feb. 29 thru March 11 in exchange for waiving one regular parking citation of $25 or less.

The program was a tremendous success. Through Donations for Citations, participants donated 2,441 pounds of food and 381 pounds of personal care items to the Big Blue Pantry — a program that serves UK students who are experiencing food insecurity or hunger.

“Overall, I am very impressed with the UK community. Obviously, some of the motivation for donating was getting a parking citation waived but most people went above and beyond donating the minimum,” said Chrissie Tune, PTS marketing coordinator.

A total of 337 individuals participated in Donations for Citations — 228 students, 77 employees and 32 visitors.

Manning Kulis, Big Blue Pantry student director, said Donations for Citations will benefit the pantry tremendously.

“The Donations for Citations program was very successful. It’s crazy to see this amount of food in one space. This food will last us the rest of the spring semester and throughout the summer when we’re open and even into next semester. Having a good startup amount in the fall will be really helpful,” Kulis said.

During the second week of the program, Big Blue Pantry saw a 53 percent increase in customers. Tune and Kulis hope the program helped raise awareness of the resources Big Blue Pantry provides.

“There were some people that I interacted with personally that didn’t know the Big Blue Pantry existed so we were able to educate them about that as a campus resource,” Tune said.

UK is the University for Kentucky. At UK, we are educating more students, treating more patients with complex illnesses and conducting more research and service than at any time in our 150-year history. To read more about the UK story and how you can support continued investment in your university and the Commonwealth, go to: uky.edu/uk4ky. #uk4ky #seeblue

MEDIA CONTACT: Blair Hoover, 859-257-6398; blair.hoover@uky.edu