People parking in downtown Peterborough over the holidays donated $11,488 to support Kawartha Food Share.
Since 2003, the City of Peterborough’s parking division and the Peterborough Downtown Business Improvement Area (DBIA) have provided two hours of free parking downtown through the holiday season.
The initiative begins on Black Friday and runs through to the end of December. During this time, all money put in the parking meters is donated to charity.
“Once again our community has shown its tremendous generosity,” Mayor Daryl Bennett says.
“By putting money in the parking machines downtown in December, we are helping to feed people in our community through the efforts of Kawartha Food Share. Thank you to all of the people and downtown businesses that supported this initiative.”
Kawartha Food Share assists more than 8,100 men women and children every month through 36 member agencies. This includes four meal programs, four city food banks, six housing projects, seven county food banks, and over 20 food cupboards across the City and County of Peterborough. Last year, the warehouse distributed over $5 million worth of food and emergency care needs.
“We could not be more excited to be the recipients of the holiday parking funds again this year,” says Ashlee Aitken, General Manager of Kawartha Food Share. “This donation comes at a perfect time as we begin to restock our shelves after the very busy holidays and continue to ensure that everyone in Peterborough City and County has safe and reliable access to emergency food.
The grand total of donations to date through the downtown free parking initiative is $119,878.41.
