Parking Services to donate citation revenue to Seawolf Food Pantry for two weeks

From Nov. 20 through Dec. 1, all money that Parking Services receives from parking citations will be donated to the Seawolf Food Pantry as a part of Parking Services’ annual “Parking for the Pantry” program.

According to the Seawolf Food Pantry’s website, roughly 45% of Seawolves are “experiencing some type of food insecurity and provides a three-day supply of shelf-stable food for individuals and households of up to four people.”

The pantry is located in Room 212 of the Professional Studies Building and can be accessed at the times listed on the website.

Parking Services used to do a peanut butter and jelly drive. However, allergy concerns and a lack of flexibility for the food pantry caused Parking Services to opt for a fundraiser instead.

In an interview with The Northern Light, Parking Services Associate Director Falon Harkins explained that the fundraiser gives the Seawolf Food Pantry “flexibility” that a regular food drive cannot provide. By donating money, rather than food,  the pantry can use the funds however they see fit.

“The money is theirs. They can do whatever they want with it,” said Harkins.

Last year, the program raised $1,800 – an amount that Parking Services is aiming to surpass this year.

If a student wants to help with the fundraiser, all they have to do is pay their parking citations.

Harkins said that if students are “sitting on some tickets and some citations, [I] would love [for] them to come in and get those citations paid off during that time because I would like to beat that 1,800 number from last year.”

Even if Parking Services does not meet its fundraising goal, the food pantry can still expect some money. “If we don’t collect a minimum of 1,000, my executive director authorized us to go ahead, and we just pay 1,000,” said Harkins.

Students looking to pay parking citations can do so online through UAA’s Permit Store or by sending a check to the Parking Services office in Eugene Short Hall.