Shread-a-thon a success

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Delta Gymnastics held its first ever Shred-a-thon fundraiser during a cold winter day on January 19, and the response from members of the public was overwhelming. The fundraiser, sponsored by Urban Impact and Vancity Tsawwassen, offered the community free shredding of their documents outside the Vancity branch in Tsawwassen, for five hours that day. For many, it represented a great opportunity to safely get rid of their confidential information.

“One person had been saving their documents for years because they didn’t want to take it to the dump or recycle it, so they were especially thankful,” says Michelle Laviolette, Vancity Tsawwassen Branch Manager. Local small businesses also came to shred their paperwork and pledged donations to Delta Gymnastics, including Vancity, who pledged $500 towards the initiative.

At least 100 people showed up with paper to shred and bottles to recycle, donating the rebates.

"Some people had small bags, some people had their trunk full of boxes," commented Laviolette.  "Some people hadn't known about it before hand so they rushed home to find what needed to be shredded, many asked to repeat this annually."

Eight Delta Gymnastics athletes and a group of volunteer parents helped out as a total of 3,100 kg of paper was shredded by Urban Impact, on site. "Ordinarily, shredding that amount would cost between $1,500 and $1,750", said Mark Popp, from Urban Impact in Richmond. "We were very happy to be part of this community event and support the athletes." Urban Impact donated their time and services to the Shred-a-thon, which raised a total of $2,862, proceeds that will help Delta Gymnastics’ athletes compete in national and western events.

“Vancity was thrilled that so many people came out to responsibly discard their confidential, sensitive information,” added Laviolette. “Identity theft is biggest crime in North America and the more individuals can do to prevent it, the better. We applaud our member Delta Gymnastics for bringing forward this initiative to us.”   Vancity has committed to making the Shred-a-thon an annual event that helps both the community and Delta Gymnastics. “We want to express our appreciation to our sponsors, athletes, parents, and the neighbouring businesses who supported the event by donating prizes,” said Ana Arciniega, Delta Gymnastics' Executive Director. “They were extremely helpful and enthusiastic, they were there all day,  shredding with a smile despite the freezing cold and supporting the community.”

Delta Gymnastics is located in Ladner at the Sport Development Centre.  For information about their programs and events, Visit  www.deltagymnastics.com or check them out on Facebook.