Boxes piled up at the University Medical Center’s parking lot as people handed over their documents to be shredded.
The University Medical Center Foundation and Keller Williams Southern Arizona, a realty company, shredded paper to raise money for Diamond Children’s Medical Center on Saturday.
“”People were lined up before 10 a.m.,”” said Thomas Sanders, senior development officer at the University Medical Center Foundation. “”We haven’t stopped, and we haven’t had a break the entire time.””
This is the group’s second “”Shred It”” event. The first event took place last Halloween and raised $10,000. Sanders said he felt the event had gone way beyond the first in terms of boxes of paper.
Keith Johnson, a realtor with Keller Williams Southern Arizona, wanted to do the fundraiser for Diamond Children’s after UMC took care of his children.
“”Keith Johnson has children that have received very high medical attention from UMC, so he has a very close connection with UMC,”” said Anthony Azar, a majority owner of Keller Williams Southern Arizona.
Johnson had twins in 2007, and one of his sons spent 9 1/2 weeks at UMC’s neonatal intensive care unit.
“”They did such a good job taking care of my kids,”” Johnson said.
Johnson said the first “”Shred It”” provided the Diamond Children’s Medical Center enough money to afford 10 resuscitators. The unit had only three previously.
“”We are actually saving seconds, possibly a minute, to have these extra ones to save someone’s life,”” Johnson said.
Johnson got the idea to do a paper shredding fundraiser through his friend Kevin Heal, who works at Shred It, a paper shredding company. According to Johnson, all of Shred It’s services are donated.
There was a 200- to 300-box backlog in the first hour of the event. He said he thought they had a bigger turnout because the event was after tax day.
Johnson said people were surprised by how big the crowd was. He was also very appreciative and enjoyed having the money go to the Diamond Children’s Medical Center.
Kent Rollins, the president of UMC Foundation, said Diamond Children’s Medical Center brings together both the UMC and the UA Steele Children’s Research Center. Rollins said the Diamond Children’s Medical Center is expected to open in September.
“”I think it’s great, we’ve done this before and we see a lot of people returning,”” Rollins said. “”It’s a good event and we really appreciate Keller Williams.””
