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Pay less for your parking tickets and help needy families with 'Food for Fines'

'Food for Fines' active until Dec. 15th
Posted at 2:15 PM, Nov 21, 2017
and last updated 2017-11-21 17:39:26-05

TAMPA, Fla. -- Parking fines hurt and add up at $25 dollars per ticket. 

"I was in a meeting for work," said Adrian Mora who got ticketed today.

Mora says she used her app to update her space but a parking attendant got there first. 

"Just gotta pay for it," she said. 

Or there's a way you can knock $15 dollars off your fine.

"My first reaction is dang!" said Kiera Hawthorne.

The Food for Fines program is only active until December 15th. You can bring 15 cans of food-- they count as $1 each-- to knock $15 dollars off your ticket.

The food goes to local non-profit 'Feeding Tampa Bay.'

"Yeah! I'll go buy canned food and exchange it for my ticket," said Hawthorne.

Last Year, the 'Food for Fines' Pilot program collected 48 pounds of canned good or 40 meals.

"It just gives people an opportunity to take the sting out of getting a parking ticket," said Tampa City Council Member Guido Maniscalco. 

Turning a fine into a donation during a time when families really need it. 

"I like that idea. I'll get a ticket for that," said Hawthorne. 

You can drop off your donation at the downtown Tampa parking citation office through December 15th or pick up a voucher to pay your fine by dropping off canned goods at 'Feeding Tampa Bay.'