West Springfield’s Helping Hands hosts shredding event

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The West Springfield Helping Hands will be hosting a shredding event for residents on Saturday.

The event is a great time to clean out your personal documents from your home. At the event, Infoshred will be shredding the documents, along with West Side Helping Hands volunteers.

Community members have the chance to safely get rid of old documents, while also dropping off donated non-perishable food items for the Parish Cupboard, or cash donations are accepted.

The shredding event will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m. in the parking lot of the Municipal Office Building in West Springfield.

Here’s what you should shred immediately, according to the Federal Trade Commission:

• Sales and ATM receipts
• Paid credit card statements
• Paid utility bills
• Credit offers
• Canceled checks that are not tax-related
• Expired warranties

The FTC says you can wait up to one year to shred pay stubs, and bank statements, and pay undisputed medical bills. By following this advice, experts say that you greatly reduce your risk of falling victim to identity theft.