Shredtastic and Drug Take-Back
Start gathering those old documents that need to be discarded and clean out your medicine chests! Shred-tastic is returning! “Shred-tastic” is a free shredding – prescription drug take back event. This event is for seniors ages 60 and over and their caregivers. It will take place Friday, September 25, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Center for Active Generations, 313 Cook Street, Sioux City. Document Depot is providing a shredding truck and the Sioux City Police Department will be accepting outdated drugs for proper disposal.
With a focus on preventing seniors from becoming victims of identity theft, Shred-tastic offers seniors or their caregivers the opportunity to shred personal materials. Connections Area Agency on Aging and SHIIP (Senior Health Insurance Information Program) advises Medicare beneficiaries to carefully dispose of paperwork such as Medicare Summary Notices, explanation of benefits notices from insurance companies, bank statements, credit card billings and applications and other documents that contain personal information. “We all need to be aware that numbers assigned to us from Medicare and Social Security, as well as bank account and credit card information are valuable and sell-able commodities to many scammers,” stated Chris Kuchta, event organizer at Connections Area Agency on Aging. She continued, “We are excited to be able to offer this service to seniors living in the Siouxland area.”
This event is for personal papers only. Items can include but at not limited to: Medicare statements – especially those that dates from 2010 or before, as they have full medicare numbers, tax returns, credit card statements, bank statements and cancelled checks, and other documents with personal information. Paperclips and staples do not need to be removed. Items not accepted include papers from a business, magazines, phone books, plastic folders, corrugated cardboard, plastic credit cards, general trash, etc.
The Sioux City Police will be present to accept medications and will dispose of them by incineration. This event is a great opportunity to properly dispose of accumulated, unwanted, unused prescription drugs, keeping them from being flushed and entering our waterways. Medications should be in their original containers. Items not accepted include sharp objects, thermometers, home based care or durable medical supplies. In the last year, more than 2.1 million teens abused prescription drugs. Unfortunately most of those drugs were acquired from friends and family. Many of these teens or visitors in the home simply took the drugs in the medicine cabinets of grandparents, parents or even in the homes of friends.
For additional information, contact Connections Area Agency on Aging at 712-279-6900, 1-800-432-9209 or www.connectionsaaa.org.
