Food for Fines is Back: MCPL Collects Food Donations, Forgives Fines Through Sept. 14

Mid-Continent Public Library’s biannual Food for Fines program is running this week, September 8–14, offering the community the chance to pay off library fines and fees with donations of nonperishable food items.

At the end of the week, all donations collected at the Excelsior Springs branch will be given to the Good Samaritan Center of Excelsior Springs. Other MCPL branches will donate to local pantries in their own communities.

Each donated food item will count as $1.50 toward a customer’s fines and fees, with a maximum of $30 forgiven. Patrons are welcome to pay it forward for the fines of others if they exceed the threshold or simply would like to give back. Donations must be non-expired, undamaged, and not in glass, plastic, or cardboard drink containers. Suggested items include canned meats, canned fruit, peanut butter, cereal, and pasta.

MCPL has offered the Food for Fines program for more than a decade, hosting it twice a year: they host in the fall to help remove barriers for students and families as the school year begins. To date, the program has collected more than 235,000 items for local charities across the Kansas City metro.

Food donations can be made at any MCPL branch, regardless of whether or not the donor has fines on their account.

For more information about Food for Fines, including a full list of participating food pantries, visit mymcpl.org/FoodForFines.