The “Donations for Citations” program is helping strengthen campus relationships while making a meaningful impact across Riverside County.
UC Riverside Transportation Services and its staff have built one of the most innovative community engagement programs in higher education parking and mobility, and it all started with a simple question: how can parking operations create a greater impact beyond enforcement?
The answer became “Donations for Citations,” an annual blood drive hosted in partnership with LifeStream Blood Bank that allows students, faculty, staff, and community members to donate blood in exchange for parking citation forgiveness. What began as a creative campus initiative has since evolved into one of the largest blood drives in Riverside County outside of local high schools, earning national recognition from the International Parking & Mobility Institute (IPMI) along the way.
The original idea came from a Transportation Services staff member, and over time the initiative evolved into a department-wide effort embraced by the entire team. Today, staff members across UC Riverside Transportation Services help organize, support, and promote the event each year, taking pride not only in the program itself, but in the impact it continues to have on the campus and surrounding community.
But according to Irma Henderson, Director of Transportation & Parking Services at UC Riverside, the success of the program is rooted in something much bigger than citation forgiveness.
“Our overall citation enforcement and compliance program is centered around education,” Henderson explained. “Not enforcement or compliance.”
That philosophy shapes everything about the program and the department behind it.
Building a Program Around Education and Community
Like many universities, UC Riverside originally experimented with a food donation initiative tied to citation forgiveness. Over time, however, the department encountered challenges with both the quality and quantity of donations being collected.
That sparked conversations around creating a different kind of giving initiative, one that could address a broader community need while still supporting students navigating campus parking systems.
The idea for a blood drive was inspired by donation events that had previously taken place on campus for individuals in need. Eventually, Transportation Services expanded the concept into a larger annual campus-wide initiative.
Today, “Donations for Citations” takes place over three days each fall, strategically timed during the early weeks of the academic year when incoming students are still learning campus parking rules, permit requirements, and transportation procedures.
“Typically, most people, their first or second citation, they just didn’t know,” Henderson said.
That perspective is central to how the department approaches parking operations overall. Rather than viewing parking citations as isolated transactions, the department sees opportunities for education and engagement.
The blood drive became a natural extension of that mindset.
Participants receive up to $86 toward a parking citation for each blood donation, helping resolve common violations such as permit-related citations or red zone parking. Larger citations can still receive partial forgiveness.
Importantly, the initiative was intentionally designed to be inclusive.
“We don’t penalize individuals if they’re not accepted for a donation,” Henderson shared. “All you really have to do is make an appointment and show up.”
Participants who are medically deferred from donating still qualify for citation forgiveness simply for participating in the process.
“We wanted to be inclusive with the program,” Henderson said. “We’re looking at engagement more so than the actual blood product as well.”
One of the Largest Blood Drives in Riverside County
What started as a one-day initiative has grown significantly over the years.
LifeStream Blood Bank now brings multiple donation trailers and mobile units to campus to support the scale of participation, with enough capacity to accommodate up to 12 simultaneous donations at a time.
According to Henderson, the response from the campus and surrounding community has consistently exceeded expectations.
“We thought that we would see a lot of people who just wanted to take care of a citation,” she said. “But oddly enough, there’s more people that just come in to donate.”
Since launching, the “Donations for Citations” program has generated 886 blood donations, reduced 886 citations, and returned more than $49,000 in citation forgiveness back to the campus community. With each blood donation carrying the potential to impact up to three lives, the initiative’s reach extends far beyond campus parking operations.
Last year alone, the event generated more than 200 successful blood donations, alongside another 100-plus participants who attempted to donate but were medically deferred.
And the impact extends well beyond campus.
“Each donation has a potential to go to three different people or three different situations,” Henderson explained. “When you start taking a look at that cumulative impact, it’s pretty big.”
The event has also created unexpected moments of connection across the university community.
One student famously brought four friends with him so all five of his citations could be forgiven through their collective donations. The department honored every one of them.
“If you have 10 citations and you want to bring 10 people, I look at that as 30 lives,” Henderson said.
That perspective captures the spirit of the initiative perfectly.
Reimagining the Parking Experience
Programs like “Donations for Citations” are helping reshape how parking and mobility departments engage with the communities they serve.
At UC Riverside, Transportation Services places significant emphasis on customer experience, campus access, and operational stewardship.
“We don’t look at revenue as a goal,” Henderson said. “Lot utilization. Is there a parking spot available for you when you come to campus? That means we’re protecting the right of the permit holder.”
For Henderson and her team, parking operations are about ensuring students, faculty, staff, and visitors can access campus efficiently and reliably.
“If we do that job correctly, the revenue just follows,” she added.
That philosophy has contributed to meaningful shifts in how the department is perceived across campus.
“A lot of times, the conversations now aren’t about the citations or the parking officers,” Henderson explained. “It’s about the sheer fact that they need to purchase a permit. The enforcement and compliance piece isn’t the conversation very much anymore.”
Those changes did not happen overnight. They were built through consistency, creativity, and a willingness to approach parking operations differently.
Creating an Experience People Want to Participate In
Part of what makes “Donations for Citations” so successful is the atmosphere surrounding the event itself.
UC Riverside Transportation Services intentionally creates welcoming gathering spaces with picnic tables, shaded areas, and recovery zones where students can socialize, study, or spend time together before and after donating.
“We really have to make sure that they’re comfortable,” Henderson said. “And protected from the elements and that they’ve got a place to even just sit and talk.”
Some students stay long after donating simply because the environment feels inviting.
The department’s marketing efforts have also become a signature part of the event. In-house creative teams produce themed campaigns across campus featuring Halloween-inspired graphics, signage, social media content, and playful vampire-themed messaging that students now look forward to every year.
Staff members across Transportation Services help bring the event to life each year, from marketing and event setup to donor support and campus outreach. For many within the department, the event has become one of the most meaningful parts of the year, reflecting the team’s shared commitment to service, education, and community engagement.
Attempts to move away from the Halloween aesthetic were quickly met with requests from students to bring it back.
That authenticity matters.
The program feels less like a campaign and more like a campus tradition.
Henderson emphasized that the initiative succeeds because the department fully embraces the mission behind it.
“All of our staff support it,” Henderson shared. “They embody the philosophy and intentions behind the program, and they genuinely care about making it a positive experience for the campus community.”
Looking Ahead
As universities continue exploring new ways to strengthen campus engagement and improve customer experience, initiatives like “Donations for Citations” are setting an important example for the parking and mobility industry.
The program demonstrates how transportation departments can support operational goals while also creating meaningful opportunities for community impact.
And the conversation is continuing to grow.
Henderson is currently exploring participation in a potential roundtable discussion at T2 Connect 2026 focused on community engagement initiatives, citation forgiveness programs, and innovative approaches to parking and mobility operations. The discussion would provide an opportunity for industry professionals to exchange ideas, share best practices, and learn from organizations building stronger campus relationships through thoughtful operational leadership.
For universities and municipalities considering similar programs, it may become one of the most valuable conversations at the event.
Because initiatives like this are doing more than supporting compliance and campus operations.
Together, the UC Riverside Transportation Services team is helping redefine what leadership in parking and mobility can look like.
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