A Bellevue real estate agency recently looked more like a recycling center after the company transformed its 36th St. parking lot into a gigantic shredding area.

The company, Weichert, Realtors Pillar Northwest, underwent the transformation to help local residents safely discard paperwork with personal or sensitive information as part of its April 21 Shred-A-Thon, a free event.

The Weichert affiliate and its event partner, Guild Mortgage, also collected clothing and toiletry items, as well as financial donations, at the shred-a-thon to donate to Mary’s Place, a Seattle-based non-profit organization that assists the homeless.

“It was great to see so many people who live and work in the area come out again this year to take advantage of our free document shredding day,” said Lara Dunn, the broker/owner of Weichert in a press release. “We were also excited to use this event as a way to help support Mary’s Place and everything they do to help the homeless. We can’t thank the community enough for its support.”

Weichert is an independently owned and operated Weichert affiliate. The office serves the Seattle metropolitan area.

Guild Mortgage is a nationally recognized mortgage banking company with more than 250 branches and satellites serving homebuyers throughout the United States.

For more information about Weichert, located at 14100 SE 36th St., Suite 120, contact Lara Germino at 425-577-6280 or visit www.pillarnorthwest.com.