Parking meters are being reincarnated as fundraisers for the homeless, with homeless advocates hoping that Denver citizens will fill them with the spare change — approximately $4.5 million annually — they currently distribute to panhandlers.
The goal is to steer contributions into food and services. A 50-cent donation helps pay for a homeless person’s public transportation. A $1.50 donation buys one meal. A $20 donation provides a homeless family with food, shelter, clothing, employment help and a case manager for one day.
Credit for the project goes to Denver Public Works manager Bill Vidal, who read about a similar program in Baltimore, Md. With his staff’s help, Vidal retrieved 50 parking meters from what he called “our home for retired parking meters, before they become scrap metal.”
Each parking meter can hold about $60 in change. Public utility workers will collect the cash during their regular bimonthly rounds.
Even before the first of the distinctive red-and-black parking meters was unveiled today, the project raised $36,000 from the 36 businesses and individual sponsors.
