August 28, 2024
Please talk with your children about safety. I almost witnessed a fatal accident in our community. A car was driving on Barnack and slowed down after passing Wythe and heading towards Vancouver. Just after the star of the S-curve when going downhill, the car slammed on its brakes because a girl on a bicycle (young elementary school age with sandy blonde hair) was in their lane and heading right towards the vehicle, quickly followed by a boy on a bicycle (older elementary school age with brown hair) that was to the right cut in front of the vehicle as it came to a stop. There were a group of adults talking in front of a house on Barnack and saw the whole thing. I witnessed this in the passenger seat of the vehicle. I was ready to call 911 to report an accident involving two children. Luckily, my wife stopped in time to avoid both children. We always drive slowly on this part of Barnack – mainly to react to people in the opposite direction driving in the middle of the road and not giving room. I never expected to need to do it because of children in the street.
If you have not taught your children about riding their bikes in the street, or recently observed them so they do not cut corners and obey the rules and laws, please do so to ensure their safety. Like I said, the driver was approaching the area slowly which prevented an accident. Most drivers in our community do not, and it most likely would have been a fatality.
Also, warn your children (of all ages) to avoid that part of Barnack to cross the street to get to school or the bus stop. If they do cross there, tell them to do it quickly and to look for on-coming traffic and not stare at their phone the whole time.
1 - October Annual Meeting – 10/10, 7:30PM
2 - Membership Drive
3 – No Directory this year, will have a 2024/2025 Directory early next year
4 – ECHO News
5 – Bakery and Books Info
6 – Apply for FMAP Funding
7 - Calendar
1 – The Annual Meeting will be Thursday, October 10, at 7:30PM. Place TBD. If you want to offer your back yard, please let me know. It is the typical meeting where the latest news by the Councils is brought up, the budget is discussed, and people ask questions. Once I find a place, I will announce it.
2 – The Membership Drive is starting up soon. If you do not remember if you are good for 2025 or have already paid for FIVE YEARS, please ask me. I can easily see if you owe for this year or how many years you have left.
If you are mailing or handing in cash or a check, it is $10. It has always been $10, but I received many $11 checks last year. It costs more if you pay online to cover the transaction fee.
I will get more information out this weekend.
3 – I dropped the ball and did not get the Directory information together in time for it to be formatted so it would be printed for us to distribute. I would probably get them around November if the print time is the same as last year. Because of this, I will get things ready in January so it will be a late Winter/early Spring distribution, and it will be 2024 and 2025 members. If this means you do not renew for 2025, I understand. I apologize for my errors.
4 – From ECHO’s latest newsletter:
Firestone Complete Auto Care, 6699F Springfield Mall, is holding a food drive for ECHO September 1 - 15. Non-perishable foods can be dropped off there Monday through Friday from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm, Saturday from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sunday from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Here is a list of places that maintain permanent food drop boxes for ECHO.
Braddock District Gov’t Office lobby, 9002 Burke Lake Road, weekdays 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, and accessible through the Kings Park Library until 9:00 pm on Mondays and Tuesdays
West Springfield Gov’t Office, lobby of the police station, 6140 Rolling Road, open 24 hours
Cardinal Forest Giant, 8320 Old Keene Mill Road
Huntsman Giant, 7501 Huntsman Blvd.
Saratoga Giant, 8074 Rolling Road
Springfield Plaza, 6364A Springfield Plaza
Crossroads Giant, 3480 S. Jefferson Street
Kings Park Shopping Center Giant, 8970 Burke Lake Road
Check out details about some upcoming ECHO fund-raisers on ECHO’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/EcumenicalCommunityHelpingOthers .
Clothing, Household Goods and Volunteers
ECHO’s Housewares Department is hoping for donations of hand towels and 3- and 5-quart pots. The Clothing Department is concentrating on fall and winter clothing now and hoping for donations of warm clothing for boys or girls in sizes 4 through 20 as well as sneakers for older kids in sizes 1 to 6. Adult winter coats in small, medium and large sizes and new men’s underwear are also needed.
ECHO has a few volunteer openings for people who are available on Thursday evenings and who would like to work with clothing donations. We are also looking for a Spanish speaker who would be interested in working with clients on Tuesday mornings. We have several openings for those interested in client engagement and are available Tuesday evenings. If you are interested in finding out more about volunteering for ECHO, please email volunteercoordinator@echo-inc.org.
Yard Sale Coming in October
Mark your calendar now for October 26 when ECHO will have its Fall Yard Sale extravaganza at St. Bernadette’s Gym, Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield.
5 – From a member: