7th-annual shred event
When: 8-11 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 24
Where: Castell Insurance, 426 E. Washington St.
Cost: By donation (cash, checks payable to Boys & Girls Club)
What started from what owner Phil Castell calls” humble beginnings” has grown into a kind of document-disposing institution.
Saturday, Aug. 24, marks the seventh-annual shred event at Castell Insurance, an event that saw the community turn out to donate $7,000 while they get personal and business paperwork safely eliminated.
Castell said with last year’s total, the event has topped the $20,000 mark. His office receives phones calls year-round asking when the next event will be.
“I believe a part of our success is due to our clients who come out every year to support the agency as we are fundraising for the Annual Back To School event hosted by the Boys and Girls Club,” agency co-owner James Castell said.
While the event is free and open to the public, Castell staff and volunteers accept donations of cash and checks (payable to the B&G Club) as well as back to school supplies.
“Each year we are amazed that we can surpass the previous year’s total, but last year’s total of $7,000 was huge and I am doubtful if we can exceed that amount this year,” Phil Castell said.
Christy Francis, a Medicare advisor at Castell Insurance, noted that the staff realized a couple of years ago that one shred truck wouldn’t be enough so they added a second.
“We are the only event where we do not limit how much paper people can bring to shred, Phil Castell said. “We do encourage folks who have a ton of stuff to come after 9 a.m. as then the initial rush of people has slowed to a steady pace. We do strongly recommend people who wish to donate to bring a check payable to the Boys & Girls Club as that way they even get a tax deduction for having their papers shredded — you can’t beat that.”
Participants are asked to not bring paperwork in three-ring binders or items that have large metals clasps of big clips; regular staples and paperclips are OK.
Several members of the Sequim Boys & Girls Club are set to be on-hand to help with the process.
Castell staffer John Coulson added, “We have two lines going around the office building and we have folks stay in their cars and just pop the truck of their rear doors and we do all the manual unloading of papers. So even if people see a line when they pull up, it does move very quickly.”
Murray’s Olympic Disposal has donated use of two large recycle containers for all the cardboard boxes the event volunteers receive, Phil Castell said.
