The idea of a kindness meter is so obvious, it’s a wonder it has taken this long to spread to Penticton.
Better late than never though, because this is such a wonderful way to put an old parking meter to use.
Simply take an out-of-service meter, decorate so it can’t be confused for the other parking meters and let the community know that any spare change they pump into this meter goes to help the less fortunate in the community.
Imagine, feeling good about putting money into a parking meter.
The idea is beneficial in a couple of ways, most importantly by helping collect donations supporting the work of a variety of service organizations. It also is supposed to discourage panhandling, by giving people an alternative, obvious way of helping out. As donations are directed into the kindness meter, there is less incentive for panhandlers, and—it may be a utopian ideal, but we can dream of a better day — less need.
To be honest, a single kindness meter, or even a series of them, isn’t going to eliminate panhandling or even lessen it appreciably. Nonetheless, it’s a positive step to direct spare change to where it can do the most good, and remind people in a non-threatening way that there are many people on the street that need a hand.
The city calls this first kindness meter a pilot project, but we would argue it’s already been proven in other communities. After all, the idea has been around for about a decade now, including some nearby cities like Kamloops and Vernon.
The only testing Penticton needs to do is to find two or three locations that are best suited for the kindness meters.
For now though, there’s just going to be one example downtown, so let’s keep that meter charged up to the maximum limit.