For the second time since the inception of Kindness Meters in the city, the re-purposed coin-operated parking meter in Ivey Park has been stolen.
The bright blue meter was noticeably missing from its pole Monday morning.
"Honestly, I felt physically ill to my stomach," said Lincoln McCardle, the man who worked for two years to bring the meters to the city. "We only just replaced it two or three months ago. To think it was gone again already, my heart sank. I was pretty upset."
A Kindness Meter in Victoria Park
The refurbished parking meters were installed in five downtown parks in June of last year to allow people out for a stroll a place to drop their change, not to pay for parking, but to be distributed to local charities. While the Kindness Meters in Victoria, West Lions, Piccadilly, and A. Baran parks have largely been unharmed, the one in Ivey Park has now been stolen twice.
The first time came less than two weeks after it was first installed. A 15-year-old girl and 16-year-old girl were charged with theft under $5,000 in relation to the missing meter.
While there is no way to know exactly how much money was inside the meter when it was snatched this time around, McCardle figures it was no more than $30. He also pointed out whomever took it had to saw through a pretty thick metal pole to get it.
"Last time we think it wasn't connected to the pole very well, but that wasn't the case this time," said McCardle. "These people came prepared with some kind of hacksaw."
McCardle spent part of his lunch hour on Monday searching the bushes and river bank along Ivey Park in hopes of finding the stolen meter, but came up empty handed. He is asking anyone walking or cycling through the area to keep watch for the meter.
As for whether the Kindness Meter in Ivey will be replaced for a third time, McCardle is doubtful.
"I think at some point we just have to realize that Ivey Park is maybe just a bit too remote of a location based on the fact the other meters have been fine and this one isn't," said McCardle.
Money donated through the Kindness Meters is collected by the Salvation Army on a weekly basis and doled out to local charities.