“Food for Fines” Provides More Than 350 Food Items for Wheeling Charities

The City of Wheeling has provided a total of 361 non-perishable food items to a number of charities in the City as a result of the Food for Fines program instituted throughout the 2020 holiday season.

Vice Mayor Chad Thalman explained that in an effort to help others during the holiday season, the City of Wheeling accepted a donation of five non-perishable food items in lieu of a $10 fine for an overtime parking violation. This is the fourth year the City has adopted the “Food for Fines” initiative that ran Nov. 1, 2020 through Jan. 1, 2021.

“The COVID-19 pandemic caused a hardship for many and the demand on our local food pantries was up. In an effort to provide assistance to our community, we felt it was important to institute Food for Fines again this year. We also extended the timeframe for the effective dates to two months. This was a good opportunity to turn a parking violation into something positive by providing some support for our residents in need,” he said.

Food donations were taken to the City’s finance department on the first floor of the City-County Building, the same location where a fine would be paid. The food was distributed to food pantries in the City that expressed need.

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