A message from Stacey Efaw

Thank you to everyone who supports ECHO. No matter what you do, whether it is in the form of volunteering or making a donation, we appreciate your support. I invite everyone who has ever given to ECHO to come and take our one hour Discover ECHO Tours. You will be awed by all that ECHO does to help those in need. If you are interested, please email Laura@echofl.org for more information on dates and times.

Boy Scout Food Drive

The Annual Scouting for Food Drive was held on Saturday, February 21. ECHO received over 8,200 pounds of much needed food.  Thank you to everyone from the Boy Scouts to the community who participated in the food drive and supported ECHO.

Feed the Bay

On Sunday, March 8, parishioners from 33 churches located all over the Tampa Bay area came together to support 16 local food pantries in their efforts to eradicate hunger and food insecurity. The effort, which collected 156,152 pounds of food, was accomplished with the help of 827 volunteers. Locally, ECHO was the recipient of over 12,000 pounds of food and over 600 pounds of basic, but much needed, toiletries. Thank you to all who participated. We are grateful to be a part of such a caring community.

Postal Food Drive

The Postal Food Drive is set for Saturday, May 9. As this is ECHO’s largest food drive of the year, we will need lots of volunteers to help collect and sort food. Logistics for the big day are still being developed. We will post information on volunteer opportunities on our website by mid-April.

Good Works at ECHO

Recently, one of our clients, Amarillis, returned to ECHO with exciting news that she had landed a job! ECHO was there for her once again to help her get clothes that she needed to start her job. Please read the full story at: http://echofl.org/amarillas-story/

Educational Classes at ECHO

A new session of Healthy Living, Mommy and Me and Basic Financial Literacy have started again. We always have room for residents who want to partake. Classes are open to all residents of Hillsborough County and are available regardless of whether you have visited ECHO for assistance. If you are interested and want to register for any of the classes, please call 685-0935.

ECHO’s free GED preparation class is available to anyone age 18 or over who wants to earn their GED. Please contact our instructor, Lori at Lori@echofl.org. Classes are held every Tuesday and Friday from

9 a.m. to 12 noon in ECHO’s Community Room.

If you are a retired teacher or someone looking to put teaching/tutoring skills to good use, let us know! Students in the GED classes work independently and need one on one instruction. Subjects covered include language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. Student entry levels vary and instruction ranges from third to twelfth grade.

Career Transitions

ECHO offers a variety of services to assist individuals who are looking for employment or seeking to change careers. If you need help with resume development, job interview skills, job seeking skills, career exploration or education and college planning, email Lori at Lori@echofl.org.

If you are an employer and have positions to fill, let ECHO know. In addition, participants in ECHO’s Career Transitions program can use gently used business attire for job search and interviews. The most commonly needed items include black pants, white shirts and steel toed shoes.

Give Day Tampa Bay

ECHO is participating in the 2015 Give Day Tampa Bay. Please mark your calendars for Tuesday, May 5. Give Day Tampa Bay is a 24 hour online giving challenge led by the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay and the Florida Next Foundation. Thank you to all who gave last year!

Upcoming Events at ECHO

Charity Thrift Sale- Saturday, March 21 from 8 a.m. to 12 noon at ECHO.

Winthrop Arts Festival- Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Winthrop Town Centre in Riverview.  Come visit the ECHO tent and remember to bring one of the items from our Current Needs list!

Don’t forget to visit us at www.echofl.org!

CURRENT NEEDS

ECHO receives many donations, but there are certain items that we run out of and must purchase. If you are out shopping, please consider picking some of the following;

• Dried, canned or shelf safe milk
• Spaghetti sauce
• Peanut butter
• Jelly
• Basic toiletries (soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrush, laundry detergent)
• Socks and underwear for children (all sizes, both boys and girls)