BBB “Secure Your ID” Day Shreds Nearly ¾ of a Million Pounds of Materials Across U.S. and Canada
Community service event helps consumers and business owners from Omaha, Lincoln and Sioux Falls.
Nearly 13,000 vehicles descended on 83 sites across the U.S. and Canada on Saturday, September 20, all filled with boxes and bags of sensitive documents to be shredded free of charge during Better Business Bureau’s “Secure Your ID” Day community service event.
BBB and its leading national partners Shred-It, Equifax, ProQuo and National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) saw consumers and small business owners from 30 states and two provinces deliver more than 710,000 pounds (355 tons) of materials for safe, responsible destruction, making BBB “Secure Your ID” Day the largest single day event of its kind ever held.
Locally, approximately 1,050 vehicles brought documents for shredding. About 750 vehicles came to the Omaha event. The location, at 85th and West Dodge Rd, was donated by Methodist Health System. KETV was Omaha’s media sponsor that promoted the event, and Shred-It Omaha provided the services. Over 14 tons of materials were destroyed.
In Lincoln, the event took place at People’s Choice Federal Credit Union at 25th & O Street. There, 150 vehicles brought 2.5 tons of documents. The shredding services were donated by Paper Tiger, and KLKN-TV provided media sponsorship. Additionally, this location collected over $500 for the Lincoln Food Bank.
The Sioux Falls event was held at First Dakota National Bank at 2400 S. Louise Avenue, and Shred-It Sioux Falls enabled 2.5 more tons of documents to be destroyed. One hundred and fifty vehicles attended this event, and donations to their local Food Bank were also collected.
BBB President Jim Hegarty exclaimed, “Not only did our BBB shred 19.5 tons of credentials, but we also gave everyone that attended goodie bags filled with valuable information about identity protection. We had an incredible response from consumers. I heard the words ‘thank you’ more times in five hours than I have heard in the 14 years that I have been with BBB. This was the ultimate win-win for all involved. Our media partners were blown away by the turnout and so were the BBB staff that helped organize and run the event. It was a gratifying day for everyone!”
Education is one of the most important ways BBB works toward building trust in today’s marketplace. “Our goal was to make personal information less accessible and empower people to be their own first line of defense against identity theft. With community-based BBBs across North America collaborating simultaneously, we had a tremendous coast-to-coast presence that reached numerous people and helped prevent Identity theft,” said Hegarty.
Going forward, BBB will continue providing expert advice to protect consumers and business owners from the ongoing threat of ID theft throughout the year in various ways. BBB plans to hold the next “Secure Your ID” Day in May 2009.
Thanks to everyone for their contributions to a successful Fall 2009 Secure Your ID Day, held at participating BBBs on October 17. We hope you will plan on joining us for our next Secure Your ID day on April 17, 2010.
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