July 20, 2025
I have received several error messages that the newsletter could not be received due to full mailboxes. If a neighbor mentions not seeing a newsletter, please mention this in case they need to empty their inbox.
1 – Safety
2 – Scams
3 – ECHO News
4 – National Night Out – August 5 at Village West Pool
5 – Trees and bushes
6 – Rolling Rd construction
7 – Military Spouse Red Carpet Career and Job Fair – Friday, July 25 at The Clubs at Quantico
8 – Calendar
1 – With the many afternoon/evening rainstorms, I wanted to give a reminder that the laws changed to require headlights to be on when using your wiper blades. This is not required for intermittent wipers, but it is good to have your headlights on when it is cloudy out so your vehicle is more visible to others – especially in heavy rain and fog.
If you are turning onto another road, please slow down and take the turn wide so you do not end up on the other side of the road and must correct yourself. Two times in the last three weeks on my way to work, I had to slam on my brakes about 20-30’ from the driveway entrances at the end of Vancouver at Barnack because there was someone in my lane at speed that just turned onto Vancouver would have hit me if I continued driving. Each time was an adult male and not a teenager that probably did not know better.
2 – There are still scams going around. I received a warning from my bank about people possibly posing as bank employees to try to get account information. There have also been texts going around saying you owe fees for EZ Pass or a toll company. Please remember that legitimate business will not text you with critical issues with your account. If they call you, they will have your account information. If you are not sure, hang up and call the actual business number and ask about your account. Do not use one you get from a text, voicemail, or letter unless you know it is legitimate.
3 – From the latest ECHO newsletter:
At ECHO, we are busy getting ready for Back-to-School. In August, we change the clothing in our Clothing Room from spring/summer attire to winter clothing so that our clients may choose outfits for the season to come. We hope our donors will help us stock our racks and shelves to be ready to meet those needs.
Thank you for publishing ECHO’s needs and news!
Gratefully,
Jane Curtis
Outreach Chair
How Much Food Does It Take to Feed Your Household?
Most of us don’t weigh our bags of groceries when we bring them into our kitchens, but we know pretty accurately what it takes to feed our families. ECHO’s Food Co-Chair recently found that, according to organizations like Feeding America, it takes about 1.2 pounds of food to produce a standard meal for a person. So, if a food bank distributes 20 pounds of food, that could provide about 17 meals. By the end of May, ECHO had distributed an average of 26,233 pounds of food per month during the fiscal year, yielding about 21,861 individual meals. Though the numbers seem surprising, all hunger-fighting organizations know that the need for food assistance continues at a dramatic level. ECHO’s Food Volunteers are grateful for every can, bag and box of non-perishable food and personal hygiene item that is donated. We want no neighbor to go hungry.
School Backpack Program is Underway
Each year ECHO provides new backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies for more than 1000 local students whose families are struggling financially. It takes loads of donated supplies and hours of volunteer time to accomplish this meaningful program. Volunteers wish they could share with donors all the smiles and excitement of the children who come to choose their new backpacks. Want to donate? At echo-inc.org, click on “Donate Goods,” and choose the School Supplies page where you will find a list of needed items to purchase and bring to ECHO, or a link to an Amazon wishlist where you can choose supplies that Amazon will deliver directly. Please note that we now have plenty of white glue and wide-rule notebooks. We use only new items in our backpacks to give every child the fresh start that they deserve.
We need backpack- packing volunteers who are 13 years old or older to sign up in advance through SignUp Genius. There are a few openings in August. Find the link at echo-inc.org under the Volunteer tab. Any questions should be emailed to echobackpacks@gmail.com.
West Springfield Police Are Helping ECHO's Backpack Program
The police officers of the West Springfield District Station will hold an event called “Juice Box with a Cop” on Saturday, August 9, from 10:00 am to 11:30 am at Target, 10301 New Guinea Road, Burke. During the event which is aimed at fostering cordial interaction between officers and residents, they will collect school supplies for ECHO’s Backpack Program.
In August, local children whose families are experiencing financial hardship will start coming to ECHO by appointment to get their new backpacks filled with grade-appropriate school supplies. It takes loads of donated supplies and hours of volunteer time to make this happen. Want to donate, but can’t come to Target on August 9? Go to echo-inc.org, click on “Donate Goods,” and choose the School Supplies page to find a list of needed items to bring to ECHO, or a link to an Amazon wishlist where you can choose supplies that Amazon will deliver directly. We use only new items in our backpacks to give every child the fresh start that they deserve.
ECHO’s Top Needs This Month
Please bring donations to ECHO’s Donation Door, 7205 Old Keene Mill Road, Springfield, on weekdays from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm, or from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings. ECHO is open to accept donations one Saturday morning each month. To find the date of a Saturday opening, go to echo-inc.org, and click on Calendar.
The Housewares Department is hoping for donations of hand towels, bath towels, king- or queen- sized sheets or comforters, large pots with lids, and large frying pans. The Clothing Department needs sneakers for “big kids,” sizes 1 - 6, children’s fall and winter clothing, sizes 4 - 20, winter coats for all ages, NEW athletic socks in all sizes, men’s sneakers in sizes 7 - 12.
If you are interested in volunteer opportunities at ECHO, please check the Volunteer tab at echo-inc.org and contact
volunteercoordinator@echo-inc.org by email to find out details of any opening that interests you.
Upcoming Dates to Note
August 2 - Saturday Opening
August 18-20 - Clothing Changeover to Fall/Winter
September 1 - Closed for Labor Day
September 6 - Saturday Opening
September 10 - Exec Committee Meets
September 14 - Volunteer Appreciation Picnic
September 22 - Bd of Dir Meeting
Congregational and Other Food Drives
September - Burke Presbyterian, St. Andrew's Episcopal
Rolling Valley LDS (Governor’s Day of Service)
For more information about ECHO on the following topics, please click the links to our website:
Tips on Holding a Donation Drive
I recently saw an ECHO canned goods collection box at the Shell station in the shopping center with Giant and Ledo.
4 – National Night Out is Tuesday, August 5 at the Village West Pool. Exact time is TBD. I will be serving ice cream. Come out and see your neighbors, local police, local fire/rescue/EMT staff, and possibly the District Supervisor.
5 – With the recent rainstorms, smaller trees and bushes are growing quickly. This means we need to make every effort to keep them clear of the sidewalks in front of our houses so people can safely walk on them. The storms have also impacted several larger trees in our community leading to trees and branches falling that have interrupted electrical service to our community. If you are not sure of the health of any of your trees, please have an arborist look at them to see if they are still healthy, starting to decline, or are going to fall soon. They can recommend if they need to be limbed to prevent branches from falling in the future. If any of your trees have branches that are hanging over power lines and could possibly damage them if a branch fell, have them looked at by an arborist or call Dominion Power to assess the tree. They will have a crew remove the branches that could damage their lines.
6 – VDOT said they are still on schedule with the Rolling Road expansion project. If you see anything unusual during construction, have any questions, or have any concerns, please let me know. I alerted them of the 40mph speed limit sign being removed from the median south of Viola. I have also told them that residents have seen near misses going northbound at Viola with people veering into the right turn lane instead of at the intersection and almost running into cars in the right turn lane. If you have any issues with the barrel placements or any other concerns, please let me know so I can pass it along to VDOT.
7 – Since there are a few military families in the community, I wanted to pass along something I saw in the Braddock District newsletter:
On Friday, July 25, from 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. at The Clubs at Quantico (3017 Russell Road, Quantico), military spouses are invited to attend the 2025 Military Spouse Red Carpet Career & Job Fair.
8 – Calendar
July 25 – Military Spouse Red Carpet Career and Job Fair
August 5 – National Night Out
August 9 – “Juice Box with a Cop” – 10-11:30am, Burke Target – ECHO backpack collection event