Another drive has been started by the Lexington and Fayette County Parking Authority located in Kentucky in order to raise food for the needy for the upcoming holidays.

According to the officials, they have come up with the creative payment option in order to inspire people to pay their outstanding fees for the parking tickets issued to them. The drive is said to last until December 19 this year.

The Parking Authority's executive director Gary Means pressed that people do not like paying parking citations but they would love to donate whenever an opportunity presents itself. He noted that the donations will be given to a local food bank called "God's Pantry" in order to feed the needy.

The program is entitled "Food For Fines" and people are required to donate ten cans for each acquired parking ticket. Lexington officials pressed that they got the idea from other cities who used the same method in the past.

According to Means, in Lexington, the cost of the ticket fines does not have any effect on how many cans should be donated but he pressed that expired, damaged or opened food donations shall not compensate for the fines and will not be accepted.

He pressed, "We don't care if it's a $15 ticket or $30 ticket. We're just hoping that the program will be successful and that we can haul a bunch of food."

By four in the afternoon of Monday, the Lexington Parking Authority was already able to collect around 70 cans from the citizens and Means noted that there will be more people who will decide to take up on the offer of their office. He said that there are actually more than eight thousand people across the Lexington area that has outstanding parking meter citations.

A similar program has been run by Boston ever since 1993 but instead of food, toys are given in place of the fines and the program is entitled "Toys for Tickets". A few days every winter the city officials let residents provide a non-violent unwrapped toy that is of equal or greater value than the fine.