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Pair Take Junk Off ECHO's Hands

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By D'ANN LAWRENCE WHITE

The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 24, 2008

BRANDON - Donations of nonperishable food, school supplies, sturdy shoes and clothing in good condition are always welcome at the Emergency Care Help Organization.

However, over the past couple of years the parking lot in front of the nonprofit has been attracting a collection of unwanted donations, including soiled mattresses, stained carpet remnants and torn sofas.

The staff and volunteers at the organization at 507 N. Parsons Ave., Brandon, say they never knew what they would find around their large trash container when they arrived each morning.

ECHO's operators posted signs on the building warning people they do not accept furniture and other large items. The community-based agency provides food, clothing and other essentials to residents with emergency needs but doesn't need used furniture or appliances.

When those signs were ignored, the board of directors put up "No Dumping" signs. Those, too, failed to deter dumpers who would sneak in at night and blatantly dump junk during the day, despite threats by ECHO volunteers to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office.

ECHO's next step was to put in surveillance cameras. With the cameras clearly mounted on the building and a volunteer watching the camera view on a monitor inside, the dumping continued and ECHO often had to dip into its meager budget to pay to have the items hauled away.

Enter John Focht of Brandon, who lives down the street and saw the assorted junk by the trash container nearly every day on his commute to work. Focht and his partner, Maurice Miller, are aware of how expensive hauling away junk can get. They do it for a living.

The men work for the Brandon franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK, owned by Deborah Bray. They approached Bray, who readily agreed to their offer of community service. They regularly drive by ECHO and pick up junk whenever they see it. No charge.

"We figured the less they have to spend on hauling stuff away, the more they can spend on people who really need it," Miller said.

"We know this organization is struggling and we wanted to help," Focht said.

"We've had this franchise for two years, and this community has been very good to us," Bray said. "We felt it was a great way to give back. And these guys offered to sacrifice their pay to do it."

Stacey Efaw, executive director of ECHO, was ecstatic about the news. With the faltering economy, the number of people seeking ECHO's services has been rising. However, donations have decreased, forcing the board to dip into its coffers to purchase food for distribution.

"We are so grateful for what 1-800-GOT-JUNK has done," Efaw said. "It's the community working together like this that makes ECHO succeed."

Reporter D'Ann Lawrence White can be reached at (813) 657-4524 or dlwhite@tampatrib.com.

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