Your next parking ticket might soon transform into a trinket in somebody’s stocking, thanks to a popular civic philanthropy program.
The city’s Toys for Tickets campaign is set to start this weekend and it’s a noble way of taking the misdeeds of the city’s poor parkers and putting it to good use.
Garnet Melnyk, senior officer with the city’s Municipal Enforcement Services is pleased that parking enforcement officers will be thought of less like the Grinch and more like Santa’s elves, at least for a few weeks.
“We’ve got lots of officers that look forward to this time of year when we go into the Toys for Tickets Campaign,” he stated.
The program started in 2009 as a way of boosting the intake of donations to the Fill-A-Bus campaign led by St. Albert Transit and Diversified Transportation. That campaign is then combined with the St. Albert Kinettes’ Christmas hamper campaign to offer toys and food to local families who are facing financial struggles.
Melnyk added that Toys for Tickets also has a high rate of participation. Sometimes, it’s higher than even they would have anticipated.
“It’s gotten better and better every year, and become more receptive. I think last year, everyone paid with a toy for a ticket,” he continued. “We had one where somebody donated just for the heck of it. We had more toys than tickets. We were scratching our heads: ‘Okay, whose ticket does this go to?’ We found out that it was just somebody who just wanted to donate.”
Last year, approximately $2,700 in toys was donated to the program.
To learn more, visit www.stalbert.ca.
Toys for Tickets
Toys will be accepted for eligible parking tickets only. <br /><br />The following conditions apply:<br />• Each ticket must be issued between Friday, Nov. 15 and Saturday, Nov. 30;<br />• The ticket must be paid with a toy within the early payment date range to be eligible;<br />• Toys must be age appropriate for newborns to 16 years;<br />• Toys must be new and in original packaging; and<br />• The value of the toy must equal or exceed $25 and a receipt must be presented at the time of payment.<br /><br />Payment will be accepted during weekdays from Friday, Nov. 15 to Friday, Dec. 6 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. at St. Albert Family and Community Support Services, Beaudry Place, #10, 50 Bellerose Drive.
