GULF COAST - You have just under an hour to get out to the University Mall to participate in the Shred-a-thon.

Channel 3's Bob Solarski is still live at the event where people are destroying their personal documents to prevent identity theft.

Shred-a-thon might be winding down for the day but we've seen many people traveling from all over the gulf coast. All here to take advantage of the free service.

Channel 3's Bree Sison tells us more about who came out for the event.

It's the sound of protection, protection against potential thieves.

Always worried about it with identity theft going around if you throw something in the trash somebody is going to find it

Larry Garrett is taking advantage of the opportunity to ditch old documents all at once documents he's been saving for 10 years.

So my wife is a real pack rat with that stuff so when a friend of her's told her about this free deal she goes oh let's get it all together its been piled up in my garage forever

Each Shred-a-thon draws over a thousand people and tens of thousands of pounds in documents. With dozens lined up even before the shredding trucks arrived, this event was no different to the delight of Better business bureau reps

It's the same reason you lock your cars, they're trying to make it a little tougher for the bad guys

Wright says to bring down anything with your social security number, maiden name, or account numbers. If you're not sure what to shred, you can also come by and pick up a packet explaining how long to hold onto old documents.

And residents were certainly ready to give their documents up any way they could.Shred-A-Thon