Commonwealth University police departments hold Food for Fines donation events

For the second year, all three Commonwealth University police departments at Bloomsburg, Lock Haven, and Mansfield held a Thanksgiving Food for Fines event, in which parking tickets were forgiven in exchange for donated food items.

Just before Thanksgiving break, members of three campus communities had the opportunity to have a campus parking ticket dismissed in exchange for a donation of canned food items. Each forgiven parking ticket required a donation of five items, resulting in the collection of 1,910 canned food items and the dismissal of 382 parking tickets across all three campuses.

At Bloomsburg, the food items were donated to the Bloomsburg Food Cupboard, at Lock Haven they were donated to the Haven Cupboard, and at Mansfield the Campus Cupboard and the Mansfield Food Pantry benefitted from the donations.

“The Food for Fines initiative was built from initiatives libraries use to pay off overdue book fees,” said Leo Sokoloski, director of Commonwealth University police. “This goodwill and charitable event was purposely performed just before Thanksgiving to collaborate with local food cupboards who daily provide food to the community and our students. We hope it helps to foster a sense of gratitude and appreciation – encouraging people to take a moment, pause, and reflect on the many blessings they have been afforded and the importance of assisting others who may not be as fortunate.”

“This initiative is a great example of a win-win for our students and the community. Thank you to our students for their generosity in giving and to the members of our university police departments for bringing this opportunity to our students to benefit the communities we call home,” said Commonwealth University President Bashar W. Hanna.