PENHOLD – Local residents gave generously through the Food For Fines campaign last month.
Penhold community peace officers Victor Tam and Jay Klause collected non-perishable food items for the Red Deer Food Bank that were donated instead of cash payments for traffic and bylaw violations such as speeding or running a stop sign.
The Food for Fines campaign ran from Dec. 15 to 21 in Penhold.
"If they brought in food, it had to be valued at 80 per cent of the fine, but if they went over that amount, that was OK,” said Klause, noting food collected for the food bank would also be distributed to Penhold families and help local residents.
About 1,000 pounds of food and other needed items were collected during the campaign.
Penhold peace officers have collected toys for similar campaigns around Christmastime in previous years, noted Tam.
In addition to food, other needed personal and household items were collected, including diapers, toothbrushes and toothpaste.
The Penhold peace officers said they received positive feedback from residents with many donating food for their traffic and bylaw infractions.
"I would say about 90 per cent of the people took advantage of the Food for Fines campaign,” said Klause. "We even had a guy call in and said it was the best ticket he’s ever had. He really liked the initiative.
"He said he got the ticket but the option to give to the food bank was awesome,” he added.
Items were collected just before Christmas and are being delivered to the Red Deer Food Bank early in the new year.
"A lot of people really enjoyed doing that (food for fines) campaign because they know that their donation is going back into the community to people that need it,” said Klause. "You know that the (fine money) is not just going to go to the government, but to a cause that almost everybody believes in.”
He said many people enjoy helping make a difference at Christmastime.
"People can feel good about themselves for giving that (donation) to the food bank,” said Klause. "People made a mistake but because of that they’re helping out others.”
Const. Jay Klause, Penhold community peace officer
"We even had a guy call in and said it was the best ticket he's ever had. He really liked the initiative."
