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After months of spending too much time at home cleaning, Suffolk showed up to properly dispose of items they needed out of their house.

Keep Suffolk Beautiful held another Recycle Drive on Feb. 20 at Nansemond River High School. The weather was cold for the volunteers, but the sky took a sunny break from the constant rain that filled the week leading up to the drive.

The drive offered many services to those who drove through. Folks could donate, shred, recycle and toss without leaving the comfort of their warm car.

“The cool thing is it’s a drive-through, one-stop-spot for shredding, recycling and other ways to safely dispose of unwanted items,” Wayne Jones, Public Works Litter Control.

A trailer was present to take donations for Goodwill, Keep Suffolk Beautiful collected donations of toiletry items, cleaning products and canned food for ForKids, and the Southeastern Public Service Authority was present to dispose of hazardous waste items that are bad for the environment if not disposed of correctly.

“I love seeing so many people taking advantage of disposing of their hazardous waste here,” said Susan Davis, vice chair for Keeping Suffolk Beautiful. “Many times, that type of waste can end up in landfills and our water stream. It’s good to see people taking advantage of it.”

A first-time partnership with the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office was a popular feature as folks brought boxes and bags full of documents to be shredded. This was to promote identity theft prevention, as many have gone through their tax documents for this year’s season.

“We are handing out bags to each car with information and brochures about identity theft,” said Katie Jones, the Suffolk Sheriff’s Office community engagement coordinator. “The weather has been cold, but it’s been great to be able to socialize. This has let people get out, and the public has been very appreciative.”

Also in attendance was a long-time partner with the Recycle Drive, the Lions Club. Volunteers from the club collected used hearing aids and glasses to repair and give to those in need. They also brought plenty of their famous brooms to sell.

“This is a wonderful event that we’ve been partnering with for the past few years,” said Clay Senecal, a volunteer from the Churchland Lions Club. “We have already received two big boxes of glasses and hearing aid donations.”

Suffolk was eager to participate, as the line was double-looped around the high school’s parking lot at 9:30 a.m., 30 minutes before the event started.

“I do know we had exactly 370 cars, so if my calculations are correct, that’s about one car every 29 seconds,” said Wayne Jones. “One of the busiest drives we have ever done.”

Keep Suffolk Beautiful hopes to hold another Recycle Drive in April or May, but nothing is confirmed yet as they still look for a location. With this one’s success, it is no surprise that another is already in the planning stages.