RACINE —
City residents with outstanding parking tickets can have their late
fees excused this month through the Food for Forgiveness initiative
announced Friday morning.
Through
Dec. 31, the Racine Police Department is partnering with the Racine
County Food Bank and Malicki’s Piggly Wiggly to offer full late-fee
forgiveness. Residents can buy a $5 food donation bag at Malicki’s,
5201 Washington Ave., get a receipt and bring it to the RPD’s
public service counter at 730 Center St.; alternatively, they can
make a direct $5 donation at the service counter.
The
parking ticket will still need to be paid in its original full amount
of $20. Late fees can be as high as $30, more than doubling the
original fine, according to Police Chief Art Howell. Failure to pay a
parking ticket “spirals into other challenges” that could include
driver’s license, car registration and plates suspension, he said.
“We
thought it was a great opportunity to not only reach out to the
community and show our concern, but to address a major issue, which
is food security and hunger,” Howell said.
The
donation bags at Malicki’s are filled with essential staple items,
said store owner Ralph Malicki, who is also president of the Racine
County Food Bank’s Board of Directors. Those “basic need items”
include non-perishable foods such as beans or peanut butter, he said.
“The
need is great this time of the year,” Malicki said.
Racine Mayor Cory Mason announces the city's new Food for Forgiveness program Friday morning at City Hall. The program lets motorists purchase $5 Racine County Food Bank donation bags from Malicki's Piggly Wiggly, 5201 Washington Ave., and present the receipt to the Racine Police Department to have their parking ticket late fees waived.
Butterball
Mason always has to get his pic in the paper.
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