For more information:
Glenn Laga, Guardian Data Destruction
551-206-0702 (mobile)
glaga@guardiandatadestruction.com
April 27, 2020 – Glenn Laga, President of Guardian Data Destruction, partnered with long-time friend and community leader, Steve Rich (Steve Rich & Associates) to organize local businesses and a large group of volunteers to feed essential workers. The “Tankque to the Unsung Heroes” event on Saturday, April 25th was held in Park Ridge, NJ and featured Steve Rich’s enormous wood-fired ‘Tankque’ cooking machine. The community-supported event was created as a thank you for the healthcare, police, fire, and ambulance workers who are working hard to keep Northern New Jersey safe, fed and supplied during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Co-organizer Steve Rich explained the giving project: “I can’t think of a better reason to use the Tankque than to show our appreciation for essential workers. Fired completely by donated wood, the Tankque and an incredible team of volunteers were able to feed over 1,700 frontline workers by cooking and giving away 450 pizzas and 1000 pounds of meat in a single afternoon. Just about everything we used and prepared was donated by local businesses who were thrilled to step up and show their gratification.”
Local businesses were essential to the success of the event. Contributors of volunteers, food and supplies included B&M Meat Market, Marc’s Deli, Davey’s Locker, Let’s Meat Steakhouse, Crecco’s Café, Wegman’s, ShopRite of Hillsdale, Downes Tree Service, Guardian Data Destruction, Taylor Rental, Rent-a-Tent, The Park Ridge Elks, M&M Carpentry, Future Electrical Solutions, Librino Electric, Ridgemont Liquors, Johnson and Son, Jack’s Café, Dough Express, Baviello Landscaping, S.Hekemian Group, Zuidima Portable Toilets, Responsive Sales, Am-Tree Developmental Nursery School, Innovative Landscapes, and Steve Rich & Associates.
Addressing public safety concerns, the town of Park Ridge played an essential role in event setup and management. The mayor, council and department heads were relentless in their efforts to make the BBQ a success for the volunteers, organizers, frontline workers and the staff from area hospitals and municipal departments.
All event volunteers followed COVID-19 hygiene guidelines for disinfection and wore masks and gloves. The Health Department oversaw and approved the event along with the Park Ridge Fire Department. A regional supply company donated the disinfectant and supplies and supervised the health and safety distribution and process for event volunteers.
Glenn Laga noted, “The outpouring of work and donations from local businesses was just incredible. I’m confident that companies all over the world are doing what they can to keep their employees and communities safe and valued. Spearheading this public and heartfelt BBQ is just one way to thank everyone who is working on the frontline, behind the scenes, in trucks, stores, factories and warehouses to keep us healthy, fed, and connected. I was really pleased that so many Guardian employees were interested in stepping up and helping. The effects of the pandemic have been dramatic and traumatic for businesses and families, but I see the good that it brings out in us as well.”
About Guardian Data Destruction
Guardian Data Destruction is an onsite, single-source solution for decommissioning, data destruction and logistics-providing mobile data erasure and destruction services that eliminate the risk of data breach inherent in transport of live data from customer facilities. Guardian provides 100% secure, compliant, absolute data destruction on site, using a NAID-certified process, following the NSA-compliant (DoD) process and using NSA-certified equipment when requested. Headquartered in the New York metro area with 22 mobile locations in most major US cities, Guardian Data Destruction is comprised of a bonded team with experience in logistics, chain of custody, and asset destruction, removal, and destruction. In addition to the 2MM SSD Shredder, Guardian owns and uses high specialized, proprietary hardware and software systems for both destructively and non-destructively erasing digital data from hard drives and large storage farms – delivering mobile results that are secure, compliant and absolute.
