Donate, discard, dispose Sept. 7

HAMMONTON—Residents will be able to shred paper, drop off unused prescriptions and donate clothing during Collection Central, which will be on September 7 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. noon at the Mt. Carmel Grounds.

Event organizer Melanie Sole said the event will be similar to years past.

“Similar to years past, the event will feature document shredding and donation stations for local non-profit organizations,” Sole said.

For the mobile paper shredding, only paper, newspapers and magazines are accepted.

Residents can make a $20 donation for three 33-gallon bags of paper.

For businesses, it will be per pound on a sliding scale ranging from $50 for up to 150 pounds and $250 for up to 1,000 pounds.

Hard drives can be destroyed for $10 each.

The event used to be called Recycling Central, however, the name was changed to Collection Central this year.

“We wanted to better reflect the nature of the event. It had moved away from being about just recycling paper, electronics, etc. to being more about collecting needed items for community groups,” Sole said.

Hammonton Police Chief Kevin Friel said during the August 26 town council meeting that the Police Department will be having a medication collection at Collection Central.

“We’re going to have another medication collection in conjunction with the Hammonton Education Foundation at the Collection Central… There will be several other civic organizations collecting donations for different items,” Friel said.

Some of the items to be collected include the following:

Pantry Project: shelf-stable snacks, mac and cheese, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, feminine hygiene products, deodorant, etc.

Kid’s Closet at the Woman’s Civic Club: new or gently-used children’s clothes, shoes, boots and coats and women’s gently-used or new clothes, shoes and coats.

Migrant Worker Outreach: new or used individually packaged soap (any size), non-prescription sunglasses, playing cards and clothespins

Hammonton Police Department Prescription Drug Collection: pills, capsules, patches and pet medication. The HPD will not be accepting syringes (needles), liquids or powders.

Hammonton Lions Club: Prescription glasses and sunglasses (no cases) and hearing aids.

Hammonton Presbyterian Church: Collect new or slightly-used toys/games, personal hygiene

items (infant-adult), household items (including glassware, dishes, utensils, etc.) and small appliances for distribution to families in need.

All the proceeds from Collection Central will go to the Hammonton Education Foundation.

“All proceeds go to the Hammonton Education Foundation to support our mission of providing grants to teachers to fund innovative projects in our schools,” Sole said.

For more information, visit hefonline.org.