A parking ticket is a penalty on drivers for parking illegally, but in the city of Las Vegas, these fines are now serving a better purpose.
The summer season has just arrived, but the city council of Las Vegas, Nevada has already implemented a measure that will have students receiving free school supplies by September.
Drivers in the city who are issued parking tickets now have the temporary option to donate school supplies instead of paying their fine in cash. The city council approved the measure earlier this month and will be in effect until July 19.
According to a news release from the city council of Las Vegas, residents with non-public safety parking ticket violations may bring new school supplies to the Parking Services Offices within 30 days after the citation date of their ticket for their fines to be waived.
“The Las Vegas City Council unanimously voted in favor of allowing parking tickets issued between today and July 19, 2019, to be paid with donations of school supplies. Any supplies taken in by the city through the program will be donated to the Teachers Exchange, a 501(c)3 nonprofit that is associated with the Public Education Foundation,” the city council wrote.
The items that will be donated should be brought unwrapped together with a receipt proving that it is of equivalent or higher value to the fine being covered. Aside from the typical school supplies, cleaning supplies like paper towels and disinfecting wipes will also be accepted.
All supplies collected will be received by Teacher Exchange, a nonprofit involved with the Public Education Foundation. The organization gathers surplus books, office supplies, and other materials that are disregarded and distributes them to public schools all over southern Nevada.
This is not the first time that the city has instituted such a program. Over the holidays, they implemented a measure allowing drivers with parking tickets to donate new toys instead of paying their fines. The toys were then donated to the Salvation Army.