Bemidji Sunrise Rotary offers secure document disposal April 25

Old bank statements, tax records and medical paperwork can turn from clutter into a security risk fast, especially if they end up in a household trash bin. Bemidji Sunrise Rotary will offer residents a chance to clear out those papers safely with a confidential document disposal event in Bemidji.

The drive will run from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 25, in the parking lot of the Boys and Girls Club of the Bemidji Area, 1600 Minnesota Ave. NW. The cost is $10 per box, and proceeds will support the future YMCA indoor playground. For residents sorting through filing cabinets, garage boxes and old desk drawers, the event offers a simple spring cleanup option with a built-in safeguard against identity theft and the accidental exposure of private information.

The papers people most often forget to get rid of securely are the ones that matter most: old tax forms, bank statements, insurance records, medical bills, pay stubs and other documents with account numbers, addresses or Social Security information. A shred event is especially useful for households and small businesses that have let paperwork build up over time, then need a fast, local way to dispose of it without handling each page one by one.

The April 25 drive also fits a pattern for Bemidji Sunrise Rotary, which says it has service projects every month and focuses on youth, literacy, food security and educational opportunity. The club says it has provided every third-grade student in its surrounding community with a dictionary for more than a decade, and it raises money through projects such as roses, lefse sales and college scholarships.

This is not the club’s first document disposal effort at the Boys and Girls Club site. A 2024 listing described a similar confidential shred event there, underscoring that this has become one of the group’s recurring practical fundraisers in Bemidji. Rotary District 5580 lists the club’s regular Tuesday 7 a.m. meeting place at the Eagles Club building, 1270 Neilson Avenue SE, a reminder that this is a long-established civic organization with a steady local presence.

Paper Storm, which has provided secure document destruction in central and northern Minnesota since 2002, says it is NAID AAA Certified. That kind of professional handling is what makes the shred event more than a cleanup stop. It is a low-cost way for Beltrami County residents to protect personal information while helping fund a youth project that will stay close to home.