Recently I looked at how perceptions influenced the takeup of foodbanks in Australia. The researchers spent several months at a number of food banks in and around Brisbane. They say that many of the users of the facilities very much appreciated the service being offered, but felt stigmatized by having to go there.
“There was a tendency in some participants not to interact with others and leave the centre as soon as they collected their food because of the shame of being there,” the authors say.
The authors used sharing economy principles to try and get users engaged in more community activites, thus hopefully removing some of the stigma attached to the process of using the foodbank.
Nudging food donations
Of course, projects such as that can only work if there is enough food donated to food bank style facilities in the first place, which is a challenge that Food For Fines is looking to tackle.
The project, which is based in Lexington and is backed by God’s Pantry, works in conjunction with the city’s police department to allow residents to donate cans of food and offset parking fines they’ve been issued with.
Participation is open to anyone with a currently outstanding parking ticket from either LEXPARK or the Lexington Police Department. 10 cans of food will grant each individual a $15 reduction in their parking fine, with the scheme running until the 18th December.
Building on past success
The project is in its second year, with over 6,200 cans of food donated last year, with over 600 people receiving reductions in their parking fines of around $14,500.
“We had heard of a couple of universities doing food for fines, but the city we patterned our idea off was Boston — they’ve done toys for tickets,” the team explain.
It’s certainly a nice idea, and is something that could be relatively easy to replicate in a range of areas, from late library fines to speeding fines.
Nice idea that, I like it.
Bravo to the creativity of this idea. Yes, anything which could start a donation for poor should be greatly welcome, even if it means changing a few small laws. In my idea, this should not be limited to the holiday season only, how about during the whole year, as the homeless and poor are not seasonal. Thank you.
Somehow bribing those who have broken a law to feel better by donating a few cans to fellow citizens just seems…. well, not quite right. Surely there are more direct ways to get people to not break the law AND help their fellow man.
Since many food banks have agreements with grocery wholesalers and stores, often cash is the best donation because they can buy in bulk at a cheaper price. I wonder if anyone is going to the next step of allowing people to donate cash to the food banks instead of parking tickets? Another plus to this is that it would allow the food banks to get some things that the poor need in the non-food category..things like toothpaste, razors, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, etc? Cash is easier to move and easier to verify. I love this idea. I just hope that it can take the next step forward.
I love this idea! There is so much good work to be done in our communities- and this provides people an opportunity to try on "giving". This is so much more meaningful and long lasting than a monetary "donation" to the state/county.
Bravo to the creativity of this idea. Yes, anything which could start a donation for poor should be greatly welcome, even if it means changing a few small laws.