For the past 5 years, The Columbia County KISS Program has been offering seniors the opportunity to
shred their sensitive documents free of charge by dropping their documents off at their local town halls.
The KISS Program will once again become available to seniors in every participating town in Columbia
County from June 10, 2019 through June 28, 2019.
The KISS Program, founded by Columbia County
Clerk Holly Tanner, stands for Keeping the Identities of Seniors Safe. It was designed to protect the
identities of our seniors while assisting them in the shredding of their sensitive materials. Much of what
we toss in the trash should actually be shredded for our own safety. Again, this is a completely free
program in which seniors are able to dispose of their sensitive documents they no longer need,
discretely and securely at zero cost to them and zero cost to county taxpayers.
Seniors can bring their
sensitive materials (old credit card receipts, bank statements, tax records..etc) to their local Town Hall
and place them in a locked 64 gallon container. The container is kept secure until Certified Document
Security removes the container and brings it to their facility in New Lebanon for shredding.
This
program is available quarterly and has just wrapped up its 1st quarter of 2019, which ran from March
18, 2019-March 29, 2019 and saw seniors shred 4,237 pounds of paper!
Since the program’s inception in 2013, the program has grown from 2 towns participating to all 18
towns in the County participating, including the City of Hudson. The amount of paper that has been
shredded through the program has grown leaps and bounds as well. In 2013, 300 total pounds of paper
was shredded through the program. Just in 2018’s 4 th quarter run alone, seniors disposed of 2,403
pounds of paper, bringing the total pounds of paper shredded in 2018 up to 13,600 pounds of paper
that would have otherwise been lingering around, causing clutter, and compromising the security and
identity of the senior. A total of 44,493 pounds (20+ tons) of paper has been shredded since the
program’s inception and that figure continues to grow.
For the second year in a row, the KISS Program joined forces with the Village of Kinderhook’s Climate
Smart Community Task Force on April 20th for a special Earth Day event which saw a record 1,479
pounds of paper collected for shredding in one day! Last year’s event saw 1,075 pounds of paper
shredded. The KISS Program was not only designed to take care of our seniors, but it was also designed
to take care of our planet. All shredded materials are recycled and turned into paper products.
Seniors are encouraged to contact their local Town Hall for hours of operation and more information on
the program.
Future dates for the KISS Program will be in June, September, and December. Justin
Weaver, Columbia County Clerk’s Records Services Manager, is overseeing the program and can also be
contacted with any questions at 518-822-0143.