Parking and Transportation Services will be giving back to the community this holiday season as part of its Foods for Fines program.
There’s nothing worse than reading “pay CSU parking ticket” on your holiday to-do list, but until Dec. 20 paying your fine will sting a bit less than normal; and you might even feel good doing it.
For the next two weeks, giving $10 or more to CSU’s Rams Against Hunger will reduce each university parking ticket by $20. Although you may contribute as much as you want to the fund that provides meal cards to students with food insecurity, only one $20 deduction is allowed per citation.
Dave Bradford, director of Parking and Transportation Services, said Foods for Funds has many benefits. “This program allows Parking and Transportation Services to give back to our university community by helping feed hungry students,” he said. “And if you have a parking ticket that needs to be paid, supporting such a great cause can soften the blow a little bit.”
Here is how to reduce and pay your parking citations, and better prepare a hungry CSU student for success at the end of the school semester:
• Cash contributions are NOT accepted at CSU Parking Services; contributions must be made online through the link on this page. Please be sure to include your CSU ID, license plate number, and/or citation number in the “Questions” tab of the Food for Fines fundraiser page.
• A contribution of $10 or more will reduce a citation by $20. Only one deduction is allowed per citation.
• You can contribute as much as you want, but you’ll only receive one discount per parking citation.
Qualifying for an online contribution
To qualify with an online contribution, you must take the following steps.
• First, make a contribution online. Please be sure to include your CSU ID, license plate number, and/or citation number in the “Questions” tab of the page.
• Second, email your contribution receipt to parking@colostate.edu.
• Third, verify your contribution has been processed, usually within one business day. You should see your citation reduced by $20. You can contact our office during business hours if you don’t see the reduction.
• Fourth, pay your citation online or over the phone — (970) 491-7041 — with a credit card. Making an online contribution does not prevent further action on the citation (such as an escalated fine if a citation is not paid within the due date). Please pay your citation as quickly as possible after verifying we have processed your contribution to prevent escalation or transfer to your university account.
Citations that have already been transferred to University Accounts Receivable are not eligible for a Food for Fines reduction.
About Rams Against Hunger
The goal of Rams Against Hunger is to serve as emergency food relief for CSU undergraduate students experiencing food insecurity. Food insecurity broadly defined is “the state of being without reliable access to sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.” Indicators of food insecurity include skipping meals due to lack of financial resources, cutting the size of meals due to lack of financial resources, experiencing hunger but not eating, the inability to afford balanced meals, and/or running out of food at the end of a pay period. According to a CSU survey conducted in the Fall of 2013, approximately 10% of students at Colorado State University experience food insecurity.
