ECHO (Emergency Care Help Organization)

Barbara Allen
Local Missions Committee
Trinity’s Local Missions Team — Trinity Cares Spotlight

echoAnother of the organizations your Local Missions Team supports is ECHO (Emergency Care Help Organization). ECHO’s mission is to “put faith into action by serving people in crisis and poverty.”
Since 1981, ECHO has actively served our community using a small staff and a large base of volunteers. ECHO’s programs are designed to assist people to become independent, productive, and stable community members.

Each year nearly 5,000 people are individually interviewed and connected with resources to assist them, either by ECHO or by referral to other resources. In order to continue to serve our growing community, ECHO recently moved to a new, larger facility located at 1707 South Gadsden Street across the street from Bond Community Health Clinic and the Pregnancy Help and Information Center. It is on the StarMetro route for easy access by clients.

Through donations last year, ECHO provided the following:
• 90,589 food units
• 2,756 clothing items
• 22,500 diapers
• 655 furniture items
• 8,460 household items
• 650 bus passes

One very important program is ECHO’s 3-Day Box of Food program. Each food box contains cereal, canned vegetables,canned fruit, peanut butter, rice, soup, Ramen noodles, macaroni and cheese, canned tuna and meat, and dried milk.

Trinity members are currently supporting ECHO by donating macaroni and cheese that is placed in the 3-day box of food. Since Trinity began this program, more than 2,100 boxes of macaroni and cheese have been delivered to ECHO.

ECHO is grateful for the macaroni and cheese and because of these donations, they are able to focus their funds on other items that are not donated. There are many opportunities to assist ECHO.

Volunteer positions are always available, and donations of food, clothing, personal hygiene items, household items, and furniture may be dropped off at the ECHO office. For additional information go online at echotlh.org or call 224-3246.

Please continue to bring macaroni and cheese to the Welcome Center to supportECHO’s 3-Day Box of Food Program.