Town Accepts Toys As Parking Ticket Payment To Spread Christmas Cheer

Dec 05, 2022 by apost team

Driving can be as much of a pain as a blessing, especially during the winter when snowy conditions make commuting even more complicated. Digging out driveways and braving icy roads are just two of the joys of the season when you live somewhere where a "White Christmas" is more of a frozen reality and less of a seasonal jingle. 

Add to that particular stress the everyday annoyance of having to find parking amid the snow drifts, and some drivers might just opt to take the train. Better off sardined in with other straphangers and not stuck trying to parallel park between mounds of snow, only to have your vehicle pelted with waves of rock salt from the passing plows. Winter Wonderlands really aren't the friendliest environment for four-wheelers, but one has to "be home for Christmas" somehow. 

Imagine driving to grandma's house only to get a parking ticket. The only thing worse than coal in your stocking is perhaps a fine for fifty dollars from the city. Makes you wonder whether or not the Grinch is moonlighting as a meter maid down in Whoville. 

However, drivers in one wintery Canadian town have some reason to be thankful to be behind the wheel this holiday season. Especially those residents who have racked up parking tickets that appear like unwelcomed Christmas cards underneath windshield wipers this time of year. In November of 2022, it was announced that Kingston drivers could exchange their outstanding tickets for toys in a returning scheme run by the city's dreaded enforcement services. 

According to the City of Kingston website, their "toys for tickets (program) is back!" The exchange is a welcome break from johnny law as well as a great act of charity this holiday season. To participate, drivers were asked to bring "new and unopened toys" for those in need. 

To explain their plan, the city announced, "Let your parking ticket make the holiday season a little brighter for a child in our community. On Thursday, Dec.1, Friday, Dec. 2 and Monday, Dec. 5 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., toys can be donated, in lieu of money, as payment for parking tickets received between Nov. 1 and Dec. 3, 2022."

This ever-popular program was well-received in previous years. It has run in Kingston every year since 2005. Since its beginning, Toys for Tickets "has collected more than 3,600 toys for Kingston children, which are delivered to a local toy drive in time to be distributed to children in need over the holidays." In recent years, the city has tweaked its formula and "in 2020, instead of collecting toys from the public, the City donated over $6,500 — the average amount raised in recent years through this program — to a local toy drive."

Given this success, Kingston again in 2022 launched Toys for Tickets. The city recommended Kingston's bad drivers bring such gifts as "games, cars, dolls and stuffed toys that are suitable for children aged zero to 12-years-old." 

Dan Hazell, the Supervisor of Enforcement Services of Kingston, said of Toys for Tickets, "We urge everyone with an eligible ticket to take this opportunity to donate a toy … Your donation will directly benefit a child in our community." What a great way to spread goodwill this holiday season. 

apost.com

In what ways do you spread the cheer during the holidays? Let us know — and be sure to pass this article on to friends, family, as well as any Canadians you know!