To Celebrate Earth Day on April 22, Great Oaks Bank is hosting a free Community Shred Day at its office, 42 Town Center Drive, Richmond Hill, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m.

According to Javelin Strategy & Research, 33 percent of U.S. adults have experienced identity theft. One of the best ways to protect identity is to securely destroy sensitive documents like old tax returns, bank statements and cancelled checks.

“We are happy to help our customers and communities protect themselves from identity theft,” said Jon Seagraves, Coastal Division President of Great Oaks Bank. “You don’t have to be a customer of the bank to participate. We want the public to dispose of sensitive documents responsibly and to be diligent in protecting identity.”

Great Oaks Bank has partnered with UltraShed Technologies. All documents will be shred on-site and all paper will be recycled. The public is invited to bring up to five bankers boxes of documents to shred free of charge. Business dumping and “eWaste,” such as unwanted computers, laptops, cell phones and fax machines cannot be accepted.