AARP New Mexico to Provide Free Document Shredding in Las Cruces
AARP New Mexico will once again offer free document shredding Saturday, June 1, in Las Cruces. The free event will take place at the Walmart parking lot at 571 Walden Blvd.
“We really enjoy being able to provide this service for people in the Las Cruces and surrounding area,” said Dave Lynch, AARP Las Cruces Chapter President and member of the AARP New Mexico Executive Council. “It is a fun activity for our chapter members to do. We get to interact with people while helping them protect themselves from identity theft – and possibly clear out a little clutter.”
“At the same time, we’ll have information on how they can protect themselves from identity theft and spot scam artists, bagged up and ready to go as they drop off their materials to be shredded," Lynch said.
Gary Williams, AARP New Mexico Associate State Director for Community Outreach, said, “We are really excited to bring this event back for both our members and the general public. We know that shredding your documents safely and securely can be time consuming and expensive. Having our annual Shredfest event is a way people can make sure their sensitive documents are disposed of properly.”
Shredfest is done in conjunction with AARP’s Fraud Watch Network, a free resource to help people protect themselves and their family from identity theft and scams. The Network is available to people of all ages. It lets people know the latest scams in their areas, provides tips on how to avoid being a victim of scams and identify theft and provides a hotline where individuals can talk to a trained person on what to do if becoming a victim of a scam.
Every two seconds, someone’s identify gets stolen. Shredding sensitive documents that contain personal or financial information is one step people can take to limit their exposure to identify theft.
“We use a secure shredding service to shred documents right on site so there are no concerns about what happens to those documents when you drop them off. We do ask people to wait in line and observe the shredding so they can leave confident knowing that their documents have been destroyed,” Williams said.
The event is free and open to the public but there are limitations on how much material can be shredded. Each household is limited to two banker-type document boxes, or 50 pounds of material. Shredding will take place from 10 a.m. to noon on the dot, unless the trucks reach capacity prior to that time.
The Las Cruces event will take place at the Walmart at 571 Walton Blvd.
A similar event will take place Saturday, June 8, in Santa Fe, near the Harley Davidson store at the northeast corner of the Santa Fe Place Mall, a change from previous years near the old Sears store.
For more information or questions about the shredding events, please call Gary at 505-946-3604.
