UCR Transportation & Parking Services (TAPS) held their annual “Donations for Citations” blood drive on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, partnering with LifeStream Blood Bank. LifeStream is a non-profit community blood center that supplies over 80 local areas hospitals and medical facilities with blood. This year’s successful initiative resulted in 170 blood donations which reduced a total of $6,438.50 in citation fees. The blood collected is separated into three products (plasma, platelets and red cells) therefore providing a total of 510 parts to local hospitals. For each pint of blood donated, donors received a credit up to $79 towards a citation that could be used for themselves or credited to another person.
During the fall quarter, there are generally a large number of citations as many people are new to campus and are not aware of the parking rules. The program provides parking customers an option to donate and give back to the community instead of paying their citation fee. TAPS is a self-funded and self-sustaining operation. Although the waived citation fees create a loss in revenue, the department does it in goodwill as part of an awareness campaign. Blood donation is the gift of life and TAPS is proud of their endeavor to help meet that demand.