Dawson Creek is pulling its old parking meters out of storage, but not to start handing out tickets.
The city is piloting a "kindness" meters program, using old meters to collect change for local charities.
Alisha Guild, a local resident, learned of the initiative from a newspaper in Nova Scotia and shared it with MP Bob Zimmer, who flagged the idea for Mayor Dale Bumstead.
"I really loved the idea, so I asked (Chief Administrative Office Jim Chute) if we could find some old parking meters," he said.
The details are still being worked out, but as many as four kindness meters would be installed at the Encana Events Centre, Calvin Kruk Centre, Memorial Arena, and other high-traffic public areas. The meters would be kept inside to prevent vandalism and theft. They would be set up to accept all types of change.
How the money would be paid out to local charity groups is still in the planning phase, but the recipient would change "every few months to share the giving around," a staff report to council states.
Donations from local companies are being solicited to cover the costs of retrofit and installation.
reporter@dcdn.ca
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article mispelled Alisha Guild's name. We regret the error.
