New Westminster firefighters will be raising funds for a variety of local causes at this year’s shred-athon – including a family touched by tragedy.



The New Westminster Firefighters’ Charitable Society is holding its annual shred-athon on Sunday, June 11 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Canada Games Pool parking lot. Individuals and small businesses are welcome to bring their confidential papers to be shredded on site, with all donations going to help local charities.



“That’s the nice thing about this – you can drop it off and watch it go straight into the shredder. It’s private. We don’t store it, we don’t leave it for another day,” said Glen Bailey, president of the charitable society. “You drop it off and it gets shredded right there and then.”



The charitable society donates funds to a wide variety of local programs, including the lunch program at St. Barnabas Church, meal programs in local schools and a local after-school arts program.



New Westminster firefighters will be volunteering at an upcoming fundraiser for the family of Sanjeev Kainth, who died after a tragic workplace accident at River’s Reach Pub on March 22, but they’ll also be raising funds for the family at this year’s shred-athon.



“We will be making a donation to that family with part of the proceeds from the event,” Bailey said. “We will have some members from The Reach there as well; they will be helping out at the shred.”



The New Westminster Firefighters’ Charitable Society’s shred-athon features entertainment from a local high school band, popcorn from G&F Financial and a barbecue provided by local firefighters. It’s also a chance for community members to chat with their local firefighters.



“Hopefully we will have some fire trucks there,” Bailey said. “It’s going to be, hopefully, a really fun event for anyone who comes out and they can get their private, personal papers shredded for a donation.”



Since the shred-athon began in 2010, it has grown to the point that the charitable society has requested two trucks from Shred-it for this year’s event. The company donates one truck and a driver to the fundraiser.



“The event is growing more and more every year. For a couple of years now, we have actually run out of shredding capabilities,” Bailey said. “Shred-it has been kind enough to donate the first truck. We are hoping they’ll donate a second truck, but if they don’t, we have said we will pay for the cost of the second shredder. We don’t want people to go home disappointed like they have in the past. Again, we can’t guarantee that second truck will be there.”

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