Thursday, May 9, 2013
You can thank your letter carrier for what has to be one of the easiest ways to help feed the hungry in your community. The 2013 Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive is May 11. Here's what you need to know locally about the national initiative.
Stacey Efaw, the executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, spoke to the FishHawk Riverview Rotary Club on April 29 to discuss the Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive set for May 11. "We need volunteers at the Seffner, Valrico, Brandon and Riverview post offices," she said. The food drive, she added, "gives us about at least half of the food we need for the year." Last year, about 80,000 pounds of food was collected locally during the one-day food drive, which is billed as "the largest one-day food drive in the nation and probably the world," according to notice of the event on the United States Postal Service's Web site. Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers when they deliver the mail volunteer to pick…
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Stacey Efaw, executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization in Brandon, spoke to Rotarians about the organization's food pantry and clothes closet offerings and its growing client service center.
Stacey Efaw, executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, was the guest speaker at the April 29 meeting of the FishHawk-Riverview Rotary Club, which meets Mondays at noon at Beef 'O' Brady's in Valrico, on Bell Shoals Road. Beef's is located in the area designated by Valrico ZIP code 33596. But it's the other Valrico ZIP code — 33594 — that concerned Efaw, who discussed with the Rotarians both the need in the Greater Brandon community and her non-profit organization's role in helping to meet that need. "You'd be surprised how many people in our area are hurting," she said. "I was really amazed to see that some ZIP codes in our Brandon area, actually the Valrico ZIP code 33594, was one of the places that…
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Discounted overstocked clothes and small household items will be on sale at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) on Parsons Avenue in Brandon. Proceeds benefit the food bank and clothes closet.
Charity thrift sale volunteers at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) will be on duty Saturday, March 16 to sell discounted clothes and small household items to the public. These items are received weekly from the residents of Greater Brandon, who support the food bank and clothes closet with donations of gently used items to help neighbors struggling through tough times. Once a month ECHO opens its storefront to the general public, which allows the non-profit to clear overstocked items and raise money for other needs that people have, such as perishable food items. ECHO is available to people who, because of emergency situations, are having trouble paying for food, clothes and other items. A person can used ECHO services up to …
Friday, February 8, 2013
The Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon, at its breakfast meeting at Ben's Family Restaurant in Brandon, heard from a representative of the Emergency Care Help Organization about the group's services and upcoming events.
The needs of the hungry and the community's response to meet them were discussed Thursday morning, Feb. 7, at the weekly breakfast meeting of the Kiwanis Club of Greater Brandon, held at Ben's Family Restaurant in Brandon. "One in six people in this area face hunger issues, which means they may not know where their next meal is coming from," said the meeting's speaker, Kathy Collins, events director for the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon. Her job is to talk about ECHO and program fundraising events, "which we need to be able to buy fresh produce and proteins and socks, underwear and diapers for kids." These items augment the non-perishable food items and clothes and small household furnishings that area residents have…
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Discounted overstocked clothes and small household items will be on sale at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) on Parsons Avenue in Brandon. Proceeds benefit the food bank and clothes closet.
Charity thrift sale volunteers at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) will be on duty Saturday, Jan. 26 to sell discounted clothes and small household items to the public. These items are received weekly from the residents of Greater Brandon, who support the food bank and clothes closet with donations of gently used items to help neighbors struggling through tough times. Once a month ECHO opens its storefront to the general public, which allows the non-profit to clear overstocked items and raise money for other needs that people have, such as perishable food items. ECHO is available to people who, because of emergency situations, are having trouble paying for food, clothes and other items. A person can used ECHO services up to …
Tuesday, January 1, 2013
Stacey Efaw, executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, recounts the year that was in numbers that reflect the continuing and growing need for aid to help people facing tough economic times.
More than 10,000 people in the Greater Brandon area have been served in 2012 by volunteers at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, about half of whom were children, according to Stacey Efaw, the group's executive director. Founded in 1987, ECHO is a food pantry and clothing assistance source for residents of the Greater Brandon area who have experienced a recent emergency. ECHO is at 507 North Parsons Ave., north of Brandon Boulevard (State Road 60). ______________ ECHO 2012: Recapping Successes In a year-end message, Efaw noted the accomplishments of ECHO over the past year, as noted below:
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Discounted overstocked clothes and small household items will be on sale at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) on Parsons Avenue in Brandon. Proceeds benefit the food bank and clothes closet.
Charity thrift sale volunteers at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) will be on duty Saturday, Dec. 8 to sell discounted clothes and small household items to the public. These items are received weekly from the residents of Greater Brandon, who support the food bank and clothes closet with donations of gently used items to help neighbors struggling through tough times. Once a month ECHO opens its storefront to the general public, which allows the non-profit to clear overstocked items and raise money for other needs that people have, such as perishable food items. ECHO is available to people who, because of emergency situations, are having trouble paying for food, clothes and other items. A person can used ECHO services up to four …
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Lori Libhart serves as board president for both the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce and the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon. That’s in addition to her day job, as CEO of LossBusters.
How does one volunteer end up wearing two hats as the board president of two nonprofit organizations in the Greater Brandon area? "It kind of slides up on you," said Lori Libhart, who is doing just that, as president of both the Greater Seffner Area Chamber of Commerce and the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon. For Libhart, helping small businesses grow and helping people in emergency situations are part and parcel of what drives her to be active in the community, across many platforms. For years, too, she has worked with the Greater Seffner Area Relay For Life, for which she most recently chaired the team development team. For next year's relay, she is assisting with the survivors' dinner. With her husband, Libby, the …
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Shop for a cause at the ECHO Charity Thrift Sale at the Emergency Care Help Organization in Brandon. Help refresh food supplies and raise money for the center by shopping through overstocked clothes and small household items.
Calling it the monthly "Charity Thrift Sale," the volunteers at the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) are on duty today, Nov. 17, to sell discounted clothes and small household items. These items are received weekly from the residents of Greater Brandon, who support the food bank and clothes closet with donations of gently used items to help neighbors struggling through tough times. Once a month ECHO opens its storefront to the general public, which allows the non-profit to clear overstocked items and raise money for other needs that people have, such as perishable food items. ECHO is available to people who, because of emergency situations, are having trouble paying for food, clothes and other items. A person can used ECHO …
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Stacey Efaw, executive director of the Emergency Care Help Organization (ECHO) in Brandon, makes a plea for community support in stocking the pantry shelves for people in need this holiday season.
The pantry is empty at the Emergency Care Help Organization in Brandon, where Stacey Efaw, ECHO's executive director, is making a plea for the community's help in stocking the shelves for neighbors in need this holiday season. "We have been incredibly busy over the past few months and our pantry is empty," Efaw said in an ECHO news release Nov. 13. "You can organize a food drive or just pick up a few extra items at the grocery story for ECHO. No amount is too small or too large." Especially needed are: In making her plea, Efaw noted the ongoing mission of ECHO and the establishment this year, again, of the Gift of Hope Tent, just down the street from ECHO, at the First Baptist Church of Brandon grounds north of Brandon Boulevard. The …
G.Schaffer
8:57 am on Saturday, February 9, 2013
Thanks for helping families in need , ECHO & Kiwanis members! Thanks for this article on how and when we can help . more ›