Menomonie Food for Fines Program Turns Tickets into Donations

MENOMONIE, Wis. (WCFW) – Menomonie residents with parking tickets will have a different way to pay them off for the next few weeks through the Food for Fines program.

Each year from Nov. 1 to April 1, the City of Menomonie institutes alternate side parking rules. From 2-7 a.m., residents need to park their cars on the side of the street with even-numbered addresses on even-numbered calendar days and odd-numbered addresses on odd-numbered calendar days. The goal is to make it easier for city crews to clear snow from the roadways during the winter months.

With the return of alternate side parking rules, the Menomonie Police Department may issue a few extra parking tickets. Luckily, residents who receive certain parking tickets can pay them off and help neighbors in need at the same time.

Not every parking ticket is eligible for reduction, however. Bethany Hedlund is a front office clerk at the Menomonie Police Department, and says safety-related parking tickets don’t qualify. “So the Food for Fines Program is a program that allows people to pay off their parking fines, specifically the ones that aren’t safety-related,” she said. “So if you’re parking in front of a fire hydrant or blocking traffic, those ones wouldn’t be eligible but any other parking fines would be.”

Until Jan. 1, residents can reduce their parking fines by $2 for each non-perishable food item they donate to the Menomonie Police Department. The Police Department then donates those food items to Stepping Stones of Dunn County for their food assistance services.

Corrisa Villeneuve is the Executive Director of Stepping Stones of Dunn County, and says this year’s donations are coming at a crucial time. Amid delays and confusion on FoodShare benefits during the federal government shutdown, food pantries across the state have seen the demand for their services spike.

“We are in our busy season and we’ve already seen a huge increase in donations, both canned goods and monetary-wise,” Villeneuve said. “I think there was a very positive community response to the potential cuts for SNAP benefits. Community members were looking for other ways to help support. There were a lot of food drives and then with Thanksgiving coming up, people tend to be more giving and like to help support us in that season too.”