Residents are invited to shred the hopes of identity thieves by taking part in Carter County Bank’s 10th annual free community shred day this Saturday.
This free event offers residents free professional shredding services of paper records and data storage materials to prevent identity theft and fraud, while also raising public awareness about recycling.
Carter County Bank’s Village Branch, located at 800 E. Broad Street next to Food City, will host the event on Saturday, June 4, from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m.
Rebecca White, marketing director for Carter County Bank, said the bank previously held the event in April right after tax day but the weather could sometimes be problematic. This year, the bank decided to move the event to early June to see if that time frame worked better.
Turn out for the event has been excellent each year, and White said the bank is expecting the same for this year.
“It has grown and grown each year,” she said. “We started out with the smallest truck available and now we are using two of the big trucks.” The second truck was added to the event last year to handle the high volume of documents residents were bringing to safely dispose of. In 2015, the event shredded and recycled more than 20,000 pounds of paper, White said.
Helping members of the community protect their sensitive information and keep it out of the hands of identity thieves is the main goal of the program.
“As a financial institution, we deal with sensitive personal information every day. Our employees and vendors have the experience to handle and destroy sensitive information in a safe and secure manner,” said Andrew McKeehan, president of Carter County Bank. “Shred-It, a professional document management service company, is our partner this year to properly dispose of and recycle documents. We look at this event as just one more way that Carter County Bank demonstrates our commitment to improving the lives of our customers and members of our community.”
Accepted items to be professionally shredded can include old bills, check stubs, health information, tax documents, financial statements, floppy disks, CDs, legal papers, invoices, or any other confidential information. Participants do not need to remove staples, paper clips, folders, or rubber bands from documents.
“It is going to be professionally shredded and then it will be recycled,” White said.
And, for those who are curious about the inner workings of the large commercial shredding trucks or those who just want to make sure their information is protected, White said those who bring items to the event will have the opportunity to watch the process.
“The technology of the trucks has gotten better,” White said. “There is a full color camera on the inside and a screen on the outside so you can actually watch your stuff inside the truck being shredded.”
The free event is open to the public for consumers only. Businesses may contact Shred-It directly for information and pricing on professional services.
For additional information please contact Rebecca White at 423-543-2131. Carter County Bank is a division of Bank of Tennessee.