WCPO 9 Shred Day: Protect yourself from identity thieves and shred unwanted documents

If you have any documents you need to get rid of, start packing them up!

WCPO 9 Shred Day is this Saturday, April 12, from 8-11:30 a.m. This is all about protecting you from identity theft. We’ll be out at these five Furniture Fair locations, shredding documents you don’t want to end up in the wrong hands.

• Fairfield
• Northgate
• Fields Ertel
• Cold Spring
• Eastgate

You don't even need to get out of your car, and there's a system in place to make sure the lines move as quickly as possible. Here's how it will work:

1. Load up your papers and documents in your trunk.
2. Once you arrive at one of these furniture fair locations, stay in your car — a volunteer will come by to take the documents out of your trunk.
3. Dropping off your documents is completely free, however, there is a four box or bag limit per car.

What you can shred:

• paper
• notebooks
• rubber bands
• staples
• paper clips
• file folders

What you can NOT shred:

• batteries
• metal items
• glass
• plastic bottles
• computers
• electronics

WATCH: How Shred Day helps solve crimes in Cincinnati

You can also drop off unwanted over-the-counter or prescription pills.

"The local law enforcement is on site at all five locations to take in prescription medications that people might have around the house, and they really don't know how to get rid of them," said Crime Stoppers president Gene Ferrara.

Police will be on-site to take them off your hands and properly dispose of them.

What’s accepted for the Drug Take-Back:

• over-the-counter medications
• prescription pills

What’s NOT accepted for the Drug Take-Back:

• liquids
• ointments
• needles
• pens
• gels
• creams

For those who weren't able to shred their documents Saturday, you can head to the Fairfield Furniture Fair, 6838 Fairfield Business Center Drive, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, April 14, through Friday, April 18, to drop off your items.
Shred Day Fundraising

All Shred Day donations go to Crime Stoppers to help solve crimes in our community. People can call Crime Stoppers and submit tips anonymously. They offer a cash reward for information that leads to an arrest, but the rewards are all funded by donations.

Ferrara said these donations make a big difference.

"Last year, over 200 major crimes were solved with tips from Crime Stoppers — 15 of those were homicides," he said.

Shred Day is Crime Stoppers’ largest fundraiser of the year.

"We gave out rewards of $95,500 (last year)," he said. "That has to be raised with donations — by giving people an opportunity to protect their identity and give us a donation, that's a twofer."

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