The New Westminster Firefighters’ Charitable Society is gearing up for this year’s shred-athon.
Residents and businesses are invited to bring papers needing to be shredded to the shred-athon, which is taking place on Saturday, June 12 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Queen’s Park Arena’s north parking lot.
“It’s a drive-thru. No walkups,” said firefighter Eric Picher, secretary of the charitable society. “There is going to be a line of cars, and once you get to the front we will remove all the stuff out of people’s cars for them and take a donation, either in cash or by card. We have gotten a debit terminal now so we can do cards.”
All documents will be shredded on site.
“The company that we are using this year is called BEST Shredding,” Picher said. “There will be two trucks, with shredding technicians on-site, who will destroy it right away.”
The New Westminster Firefighters’ Charitable Society raises money for a wide variety of programs and organizations around town, including the Union Gospel Mission and the Purpose Society. New West firefighters volunteer for the society via various fundraisers, including the shred-athon, a Christmas tree chipping event and a hockey game between the firefighters and the Vancouver Canucks Alumni team.
Money raised at the shred-athon will help the charitable society support various charities in town – something that’s become harder to do because of the coronavirus pandemic, Picher said.
“We have been continuing to get requests, although our purse strings are getting a little bit tight because we haven’t been able to run any of these events. We are hoping to do well at this shred-athon,” he said. “Last year we got $6,000 donated to us, and we are just hoping to beat that.”
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