When Stephanie Kelley, the heart and soul behind East Cooper Community Outreach (ECCO), stepped up to share her story, we knew we were in for an unforgettable conversation. From her evolution from donor to Executive Director, Stephanie unveils the intricate tapestry of support and service that ECHO weaves throughout our community, touching lives in ways only the most profound acts of kindness can.
Our discussion traverses the surprising realities of affluence and need in Mount Pleasant, uncovering the often invisible challenges that lurk beneath the surface of any community. ECCO, with its rich 34-year history, stands as a beacon of hope, expanding its legacy from hurricane relief to include life-changing medical and dental care. These stories of transformation are not just tales to be told; they're invitations to become part of a movement that uplifts and heals.
As we wrap up, the spotlight falls on the lifeblood of ECCO's mission: the community's unwavering support. We celebrate the ingenuity of fundraising efforts like pickleball tournaments and Do Good Gatherings, and we delve into the heartwarming generosity that fuels partnerships and drives initiatives. Every can of beef stew, every pair of gently-used shoes, every hour volunteered—these are the threads that weave the fabric of support for our neighbors, fostering wellness, dignity, and hope for a brighter tomorrow.
Presenting Sponsor: Mount Pleasant Chamber of Commerce
Studio Sponsor: Charleston Media Solutions
Production Sponsor: RMBO.co
Design Sponsor: DK Design
Committee:
Kathleen Herrmann | Host | MPCC Immediate Past President | Mount Pleasant Towne Centre
Mike Compton | Co-host | Marketing Chair | RMBO.co
Rebecca Imholz | Co-host | MPCC Executive Director
Amanda Bunting Comen | Co-host | Social ABCs
Ben Nesvold | Co-host | In-coming President | Edward Jones
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording in theCharleston Radio Group studio.
Thank you, brian, for beinghere with us.
There's such great supportersof the Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce.
And thank you, of course, toall of our supporters helping us
out.
Kathy Herman here.
(00:28):
I am the current president ofthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce and I am also themarketing director for Mount
Pleasant Town Center.
So thank you for joining us,and I am here with my co-host,
mike Cochran.
He is currently the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce
Foundation Chair for this year.
So welcome, michael.
(00:49):
Thank you, and we have ourguest of honor today.
I'm so excited that we are herewith the Executive Director of
the East Cooper CommunityOutreach, stephanie Kelly.
Stephanie, welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Thank you very much.
It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So before we start talking about ECHO, I do do have
to say I moved to MountPleasant about eight years ago,
and Stephanie Kelly in adifferent role we won't talk
about that, but a different rolewas one of the first people I
met in Mount Pleasant or in theCharleston area, that's right.
First business meeting that Ihad in this town was with this
lady right here, Stephanie Kelly.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And there you are.
Now you're the president of thechamber.
I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yes, but what a?
You know, the minute I metStephanie, I knew that she was
someone that I was going to bedoing business with for a very
long time and, of course, whenyou came into this position, I
was thrilled, not only for you,but, of course, for everybody
that I know that you're going tohelp.
So tell us a little bit aboutyourself how you got involved
with Echo, how long you've beenthere, sure?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So thank you so much.
So next month will actually bemy seven month or seven year
anniversary, as the executivedirector Just feels like seven
months and actually.
But I've been involved withECHO probably for about the last
15 years.
My husband and I started asdonors.
We wanted to help a localnonprofit and so when we
realized we were in a positionto start giving back, we chose
ECHO because we wanted to helpsome community organization that
(02:16):
really helped with the causesthat ECHO does, and then got
invited to take a tour.
I want to thank you letter itsaid, come in for a tour and I
thought, well, why not?
So when I left my career inhigher education, was living
here full time.
I took a tour and thought I'vegot to get more involved.
So I actually volunteered withthe organization, helped to run
fundraisers, ran the golftournament for three years.
(02:37):
Then I was invited to join theboard and then, when this
position opened up, I threw myhat in the ring.
So I always love to joke aboutthe fact that I get to go to
work at a place that I used towork for free.
But that's just because I'm sopassionate about what Echo does.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, you said something about the tour.
I remember when the Chamber hadtheir Before 9 at Echo.
I know they've done it a coupletimes, but I remember when I
was there and it was the firsttime I got behind the scenes
tour and do you remember all Ikept saying was wow, wow, this
place.
I had no idea what went onthere, and so it's very
(03:13):
enlightening and thank you forthat.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
We, twice a month, do an open tour where people can
sign up to come in and be ableto go through the building.
Because, you're right, I tootook the tour.
I had heard the missionstatement, I knew the things we
did, but there's something, whenyou actually walk through that
dental clinic and medical clinicand the food pantry and talk to
the staff about the mission andvision, that does really open
your eyes to the needs in thecommunity and also how much can
happen in such a little place.
So we've got a little place onSix Mile Road, but big things
(03:42):
happen out of that facility.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I agree 100%, Mike.
Were you on that tour with me,I think?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So yes, I was.
It's interesting because withEcho I started with a tour and
then started with the Before 9,went to that.
Then the company that I workwith, south Carolina Farm Bureau
Insurance, we did a donationduring COVID and then was able
to jump through with the chamberto be a volunteer Right.
So I've been there multipletimes, but it started with a
(04:09):
tour, just like you, and you hiton a lot of great things just a
second ago about the servicesthat you offer.
That we'll dive into.
But the thing that impressed methe most was how clean and
organized and well-run it was onthe back end, thank you, and
we'll discuss what's on thefront, but the back end.
I was like, if it's this goodback here, you know, just in the
(04:30):
day-to-day operations andsweeping the floor type of thing
it's got to be well run allthroughout.
It was very, very impressive,thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And there's a lot of intentionality about even our
facility.
Probably about 10 years ago wehad a board member who felt that
the lobby could be morewelcoming and so she paid to
redo the floors and buy newfurniture.
But the thought of it's hardenough to walk through the door
and ask for help.
We want people to feelcomfortable.
And then, you're right, theenvironment that the staff and
volunteers work in.
We want it to be efficient andclean, and we do hope it sends a
(05:01):
message to the community thatwe are good stewards of the
donations that people give to us, that we're trying to treat the
facility, the people, well, and, again, that being good
stewards is really important.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, I'm sure everyone listening knows of ECHO
, but why don't we take a minuteto explain to them what the
primary mission of ECHO is?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Sure.
So our mission statement isthat we provide assistance,
guidance and resources to helpour neighbors navigate life's
challenges.
That assistance are the thingsyou see on the tour the medical
and dental clinic, the picturesof our clothing closet that
right now is over on Bowman Road, our food pantry.
The guidance is the work thatour staff does in really helping
people who feel lost becausethey've just experienced a
(05:44):
divorce, the death of abreadwinner, a terminal illness
and they're just lostfinancially, and so our staff
works with people.
We'd love to say that we meetpeople where they are and help
them to figure out where theywant to go.
We don't define success forpeople, and that resource is
part of our mission is that wedo a lot at Six Mile Road, but
we we cannot do everything, andso there are 200 other
(06:05):
nonprofits in Charleston Countyand we like to connect people to
other agencies that can helpthem with things that we're not
able to help with.
So that's an important part.
We started, for those that don'tknow, after Hurricane Hugo as
an emergency relief effort 34years ago.
There weren't the systems inplace when a natural disaster
hits, so instead it was theparishioners at Christ, our King
(06:27):
Church that said we need to dosomething to help people who had
just had that storm hit.
I like to say, 34 years later,we're still helping people with
storms blowing through theirlives every day.
But it was our founders vision.
Is that in those original daysafter the storm, when people
were lining up for food andwater, that he was seeing a lot
of people and talking to?
Is that in those original daysafter the storm, when people
were lining up for food andwater, that he was seeing a lot
(06:48):
of people and talking to themand discovering that the storm
wasn't the reason they werestanding in line at Echo?
They had needs long before?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Hurricane.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Hugo, and so it was his thought that what was
happening after the storm couldbecome a permanent resource in
the community.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And 34 years later, like you said, 34 years later
and people still need help.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
They do, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
So it's great that these doors are still open and
you're continuing to grow.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, and that's only because people in the community
are willing to support us.
And so we always say that wecan only serve the community
with the support of thecommunity.
And so if you visit our websiteand I hope everyone will at
wwwechocharlestonorg, you canclick on one button if you need
help, and you can click onanother button if you want to
help, and we realize you needboth of those pieces of the
(07:32):
puzzle to make all of this work.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, I agree 100%, and we were talking earlier
Stephanie and running anonprofit in this day and age
can be extremely challenging,and so we're wondering about any
unique challenges about runningECHO, especially in Mount
Pleasant, and hopefully can helpsome other local nonprofits or
someone who's even thinkingabout starting a nonprofit in
(07:55):
Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And thank you for that question.
I think the part about thatquestion what's a unique
challenge of running a nonprofitin Mount Pleasant is often that
people don't believe there areneeds in this community.
So we get asked that all thetime why is there a need for a
place like ECHO in MountPleasant, or Mount Perfect as
people like to call it, and sorecognizing that in Mount
Pleasant we have the fourthhighest food insecurity rate in
(08:19):
the state of South Carolinathere are some of those
statistics that you know theChamber's not going to put out
there.
That's not your job to do, butit is our job to make sure that
we're meeting those needs in thecommunity.
And so to me, I think one ofthe unique challenges is
attracting people's attention towhat we do, because if you just
sort of look around at Pleasant, you just don't think there's a
place that you'd have to donateclothing or food, and so I
(08:41):
think that's one of the biggestchallenges.
But there's opportunities.
And so my advice to anybodyrunning a nonprofit is you've
got to be out.
Just like Town Center is tryingto attract business and your
insurance company is, we have toattract people to want to
support us as well.
And so how you're outconstantly telling the story,
the good things that arehappening, sharing the stories
(09:01):
of the lives that are changed,that's an important part of the
work that we do.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
do that we have to market to attract people to
being a part of our circle ofneighbors, helping neighbors.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Wow, that's amazing.
Stephanie, earlier we talkedabout, you know, pulling
heartstrings, to just do that.
Could you talk a little bitabout the medical side and the
dental side of what ECHO does?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Sure.
So I'll go back to MonsignorCarter, our founder.
His thought was, again backwhen Echo decided to become
incorporated to be a nonprofit,is that people are having
trouble putting food on thetable, they're probably not
taking care of their medical anddental needs.
So that was his vision that wewould expand beyond just what we
used to call basic needs.
Now we talk about those beingessential needs.
People need to eat, they needto have clothing to wear, but
(09:44):
they also have to take care oftheir health, and so it was his
goal that we would open amedical clinic first.
And so he approached an areachurch and they said no, they
didn't want to partner with us.
So he said fine, we'll have adental clinic, and we have
people who remember our originaldental clinic.
It used to be one chair in themiddle of a mobile home that was
donated to ECHO through BillyGraham Ministries.
Wow, no air conditioning.
(10:06):
We still have dentists whovolunteer with us who actually
worked in that clinic, and allwe did was extracting teeth.
And over the years, the ideahas been how do we just not pull
teeth, but how do we helppeople save their teeth?
And also recognizing thatpulling a tooth takes the pain
away, but it's not helpingpeople's oral health be better.
So both our medical and dentalclinic are really trying to help
uninsured individuals maintaintheir health so they can
(10:29):
continue to go to work and takecare of their families or, again
, not to continue to perpetuatethe challenges that they have
because you have a medicalcondition and you can't afford
the care to take care of it.
It just doesn't help withquality of life and and so the
medical clinic still doesextractions, but we also do
hygiene and we do fillings andsort of basic dentistry.
We're not doing cosmeticdentistry there.
(10:50):
And then we have a medicalclinic that provides good
continuity of care forindividuals.
The goal of that clinic is tokeep people out of the emergency
room when really what they needis primary care.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Is the medical clinic at Six Mile.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
It is.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I remember the dental .
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I didn't remember the medical it is, and actually
with our renovation projectthat's coming up, we will have a
health services wing.
So the two areas will betogether, which we also hope
will help people that come in toget that tooth pulled.
That will right there they'llbe sitting like why don't we
sign you up?
And also to see a doctor andmeet with one of our nurse
practitioners.
So we've got some great storiesof a woman who she was the
(11:27):
primary breadwinner in herhousehold.
She cared for her 80-year-oldmother.
She came in to get her toothpulled.
Her blood pressure was too highso we said can't do that unless
you get medical clearance.
Well, I don't have a doctor,great, let's get you over to see
the medical staff.
And she walked in and the nursepractitioner immediately sent
her to the emergency room.
She had a quadruple bypass thatafternoon.
She comes back about a monthlater for a checkup and the
(11:51):
nurse practitioner saidsomething's still not right
about your coloring.
She had to have a pacemaker putin Again.
Something would have happenedto her.
Where would her 80-year-oldmother have gone?
because she was the caregiver.
So there's just interestingstories there that I do say we
are saving lives every day.
That's impact, it is impact,that's impact.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Regarding your medical staff, are they all
volunteer, or are they paidstaff or combination A little?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
combination.
Yeah, so the medical staff wepay faculty members from the
College of Nursing so they'renurse practitioners, but they
bring with them residents, thepharmacist from MUSCC and
students that are all volunteers.
And then in the dental clinic,we pay a dentist to be there
during the day and then peoplevolunteer at night time, and
then we also have fourth yeardental students from MUSC and
(12:35):
Trident technical college isproviding us with hygiene
students so it's wonderful asmuch as we can get um donated,
we will do.
And then um, you know the thechallenge of course during COVID
is we lost a lot of ourvolunteer dentists because their
practices were closed for a fewmonths when COVID started and
then they had to get back towork and then sort of got a
little out of the routine ofvolunteering.
(12:57):
So at that point we had tostart paying a dentist.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, look, that's another way you're helping the
community.
You're helping these studentslearn.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
That's right, Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
It's a good way to say it Hands-on practice and
meeting the community, thepeople who need them the most
and they're able to come helpout with you.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's amazing partnerships between MUSC,
trident Technical College, echoand again trying to also get as
much bang for our buck, which iswhere again, this volunteer
piece comes in.
We also have speaking ofvolunteers.
Last year we had over 200volunteers active volunteers who
have a weekly shift that showup like it's their job.
They are such good, hardworkers and then, throughout the
(13:34):
year, like the chamber comingin, we probably had close to 350
volunteers who helped us and itwas worth almost a million
dollars over a million dollarsin value of services that they
provided.
If we had to pay someone to dothat work, wow.
So again, really great thingshappening with the people who
volunteer and give their time.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And, speaking of money, we all know you need that
to survive in the nonprofitworld.
What are some of the ways thatyou found to be the most
successful for fundraising and Iknow it's not just about money,
because we were talking earlierand you mentioned Christ, our
King and every month they haveGrocery Bag Sunday and people in
(14:15):
the parish just fill up grocerybags and it goes directly to
Echo, which I am very proud andhonored to say I do every month.
So that obviously fills yourfood pantry, but you need money
for other things.
So what are some of your moresuccessful fundraising projects
or ideas that you've done?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
So thank you for pointing out that it does take
money to run a nonprofit.
All the services we provide tothe people who come in the door
asking for help are free, butthere is nothing free about any
of the things that we do, and soabout 13% of our operating
budget comes from fundraisers.
I'm going to speak intoexistence that what we found to
be really effective is ourpickleball tournament that's
(14:51):
coming up in June.
It's Charleston's firstinaugural pickleball tournament
that we'll be doing on theweekend of June 14th, 15th and
16th, and that speaks to whenyou can get people doing
something they love and doing itfor a cause, oh, absolutely
right.
So, we also have an annual golftournament that helps us to
raise money, and then we havemoved from large galas during
(15:12):
COVID Prior to that, we did abig gala, and now we do these
small events called Do GoodGatherings, and so there are
about 100 to 125 people, versusan event with 300 to 400 people
in where we have an opportunityto help educate them about what
echo does.
There's a silent auction,there's an opportunity to make a
donation on our impact appeal,but we're finding those small,
(15:34):
intimate gatherings sort ofmirror what echo is all about,
of neighbors helping neighborswho actually can feel very
connected to individuals.
So those are things.
Our biggest way that moneycomes in, though, is through
individuals, that and businessesthat make donations to us.
Um, that's 80 of our budget isjust people who are willing to
say I have a little extra andI'm willing to give to help
(15:54):
somebody who needs thatassistance.
80 of your budget budget Wow,maybe 75, but it's, at least
it's a really it's still a lot,that's right, it's still a lot.
I told you I never did anaccounting class, but it's a big
part of the budget.
It's truly.
It's just it's churches thatmake donations.
It's, you know, your businessthat came in during COVID it's,
(16:16):
and the bulk of our donors giveunder $250.
And the bulk of our donors giveunder $250.
It takes a lot more of them.
So last year we had 1,229entities that made a financial
donation.
And then we have all thosepeople that are giving their
time and their talent andthey're filling grocery bags.
People are giving in so manyincredible ways that it all adds
up to make a big differenceFinancially.
(16:38):
You know you ask about uniquechallenges.
Nonprofits have the samechallenges your businesses do
about trying to hire good peopleand pay them fair living wages
and make sure they feel investedin that we're doing their
professional development, thatwe've got good technology so
that they can do their work, andso there are costs associated
that aren't real sexy, butthey're necessary so that we can
(17:02):
continue to meet people wherethey are and provide help.
And so financial donations isprobably the biggest area, along
with food, that we can alwaysuse more of, and that's not so
that we can just keep gettingbetter equipment, but it's just
so we can keep up.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And you know I think we said this, michael and I met
with Joe Elmore from theCharleston Animal Society for
one of these amazing podcastsand we were talking about.
You know, there's people whodon't have a lot of extra money
right, but they do have time.
They have time.
Absolutely, and I think it'sreally important for our
listeners to understand thatgiving of your time is just as
(17:39):
valuable as if you're able togive thousands of dollars,
because these organizationscannot run without the help of
volunteers.
Absolutely.
So if you're thinking abouthelping out and you just say,
you know, I just don't have themoney, you know, you can find
the time.
That's right, so just alwayskeep that in the back of your
mind.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
That's right and we do.
Now we're getting ready to gounder construction.
We did a capital campaign twoyears ago to help renovate our
current facility, so this willstop for about a year, but on
the first Saturday of each monthwe have groups come in, like
the chamber group.
It's also a time when familiescan come in, and what I love
about that is parents want theirchildren to see them in action,
(18:19):
and so that's been a reallyeffective time for us, for
people who work during the weekthat you could once a year you
could every Saturday sign up tobe able to come in and help.
We're hoping to be selected asthe beneficiary for the Blessing
of the Fleet this year and thenwe have to provide about 100
volunteers.
You could sign up to help withthat event and say I'm
representing Echo, the Cocoa CupEvery year.
(18:41):
We're a recipient for the lastsix years and again are looking
for people who will go and helpthat race run, knowing that what
you're doing will help bringmoney back into Echo.
So there's all sorts of ways,and we love when people call and
say well, I can't come inMonday through Friday.
Great, could you do a fooddrive in your community?
You do a laundry detergentdrive.
So we will always meet peoplewhere they are and figure out
(19:04):
how they can engage their family, their mahjong group, their
bunco club, their book clubs tobe able to help us out.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I remember, at Town Center last last holiday, we had
our first ever.
We had a special holidayconcert in December of 22.
Yeah, right, and I, you know Idon't like to charge people for
things, right, but I always, Ialways want to help.
So what we did is, instead of,instead of an admission, a price
admission for a ticket you hadto bring canned food Canned
(19:33):
goods Mm-hmm.
And and Stephanie was like.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I'm all over it, I'll be there, and she was there
with the van and barrels andeveryone who listened brought
canned food.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But I think it's every little bit helps, right?
I mean it has to Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And we'll have that situation even with our clients
sometimes, that maybe theyreceived something at Christmas
from a family member but theycan't wear it and they want to
donate it, even though they'recoming to our clothing closet.
And so it's big and small.
I think I shared with you thestory we were talking earlier.
During COVID.
(20:10):
We had a little eight-year-oldboy who had a rock collection.
He saw on the news that therewere people experiencing
homelessness in the Charlestonarea so he went out, unknownst
to his mother and sold his rockcollection to the area neighbors
and kept, sent home with allthis money.
And she's like what are youdoing?
And he said I sold my rockcollection and the neighbors
bought rocks because he wantedto be able to give back.
(20:32):
And so it's big and small waysthat, but it all adds up.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
And I was it is.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And I say to our staff all the time you don't
know if the person walkingthrough the door needs a can of
chicken noodle soup, or they'recoming to donate a can of
chicken noodle soup, or they'recoming to bring $10,000 worth of
Campbell stock.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
All of those people are important to this equation
and we're so glad for their help.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Great point.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
You know out of a town of over 90,000 people and
you had less than 1,300 cashdonations.
We can do better than that andI hope our listeners hear that.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And thank you for that.
I figured out.
We did the math.
So last year we served 1,739families, and so then we had
that 1,229.
So we still need 500 familiesor businesses to make a
financial donation.
So there's at least onefinancial donation per family
that we serve.
And that's my challenge is, howdo we get that extra five
(21:24):
hundred and ten?
Okay, everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You just heard Stephanie's challenge and again,
donations of every size matter.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Last year we had a 2.3 million dollar operating
budget and we raised almost the2.3, but the value of the
services that we provided wasover 3.1.
So I promise for every dollarpeople give, I will get a dollar
25's worth of value back out tothe people that are serving.
And again, that's becauseyou're filling up those grocery
bags and having food drives forus at your events.
(21:51):
It's just amazing thegenerosity in this community.
That's.
That's the part that makes myheart so happy.
Here there's just people thatwant to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
And we also work together.
We were talking with the toydrives at holiday time town
center.
For the past I've been thereeight years, it's probably been
over that Adopt some familiesand we get the stores involved
and collect all the toys.
And I think my favorite part iswhen I get the thank you notes
from the families.
I mean, I wish I personallycould adopt four families, but I
(22:23):
can't.
So I reach out to my stores andmy customers and they really do
it, man.
They stand up and they bring somuch joy to these kids, and it
makes me really happy.
It's something I'm very proudof.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
And thank you, because there are churches that
will have angel trees that bringthings.
There's individual familiesagain that do that.
Echo's services are primarilyfor adults, but this is how we
are helping the children, and solast year there were 777
children in the households thatwe were serving and they are
people who are living withsingle moms.
(22:58):
In many cases they're childrenliving with grandparents.
There's a lot of kinship caregoing on in the houses that
we're serving and in many ofthose situations, on the income
that those single moms have,there would not have been
Christmas under the tree if itwasn't for people like you that
are willing to adopt and shopoff the wish list and bring the
items that come in and Christmasis so fun.
I will tell you, when you workat the adopt a family Santa's
(23:21):
closet location and the momspick up and you see their tears
of the relief of my child'sgoing to have a great Christmas
because of somebody else'sgenerosity.
It's very, very heartwarming,and so we do give people the
option.
Would you like to write a noteto the person or individual that
adopted you?
They don't know that it wastown center and you don't know
(23:42):
who they are, but then you getthis neat note.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
We did four families this past holiday.
I have all four, thank younotes in our conference room
because I'm so proud ofeverything that we did to help
out.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And I hope, michael, as you challenge people, we can
get more donors.
That's part of my job is tomake sure that anyone that
donates to ECHO knows howgrateful we are, because you
often won't hear directly fromthe family, but I can tell you
that our volunteers will sayevery day people say thank you.
If it wasn't for ECHO, whatwould I do?
And so that is for the peoplewho write a check but never take
(24:17):
a tour or never get a chance tointeract with people.
But there's a lot of gratitude,um, that you know, because
people say, well, people aretaking advantage.
And I'm like people are nottaking advantage.
One of my favorite stories I hada gentleman.
He has his own garden and so hehadn't been in all summer.
When mr washington comes in, weall love him because he makes
us all feel like we're the mostimportant person.
He's a world war War II veteranin his late 80s, just the
(24:39):
kindest gentleman.
But I said, where have you been?
And he said, stephanie, mygarden has been growing.
Why would I come in and ask youfor food?
And I was like and it is areminder.
People don't come and ask formore than they need.
They come in because they needhelp and they're grateful for
what they get, but when they cando for on their own, they do on
their own.
I bet you his garden tasteddelicious, exactly, and then I
said and then I have joked andsaid to him well, if you have
(25:01):
extra.
And so he actually the nexttime he came in, brought
something in and said let medonate this.
I mean so our clients, evenwith as little as they have.
So last year the average incomefor our households was $17,140.
That's the average and there'sa lot of people we had 22% of
our clients last year who havezero reportable income.
They have no money coming in.
(25:22):
So they're people that weresweetgrass basket makers Right,
and now they have arthritis andcan't do it and so there's no
money coming in.
Or they had a workplace injuryand so they're waiting to get
disability.
Sure, and as one gentlemanwrote in a survey we did, he
said it's really hard to go tothe grocery store when there's
(25:44):
no money coming into your house.
And so he said if it wasn't forEcho, my family would not have
any means to be able to feed ourfamilies.
But I want to be sure thatpeople know the people that are
being helped, that you may nevermeet, are so grateful for those
who give whatever they can interms of time, talent or
treasure.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Absolutely.
One of the things that I didnotice when I was there was the
clothes closet.
Can you speak to that?
I mean because I saw that therewere nice clothes.
I mean right now, personally,I'm between my fat suit and my
skinny suit.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Who isn't Okay, it's February.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I'm kind of caught in the middle here, but there are
things that I can certainlydonate, but what are those used
for and how?
Does tell us a little bit aboutthat process and that part of
Echo?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah, so thank you.
So the clothing closet is nowlocated on Bowman Road, so not
at our facility, and we acceptany gently used clothing items
of baby size up to adult sizes.
But our clients and not all ofour clients use the clothing
closet.
We actually have a World War IIvet, another one that's the
only service he uses at Echo isthat he's like I just can't
(26:44):
afford to be able to purchaseclothing when his size changed
too he joked and told me orseasons change.
So our clients can come twice amonth and, based on their family
size, determines the number ofitems that they can get.
If you shop or have seenpictures, our clothing closet is
like a really beautifulconsignment shop because we have
people who buy beautiful thingsin town and then donate Some of
(27:08):
my favorite stories of.
We have women who say that cameinto our clothing closet to
find the dress to wear to theirdaughter's wedding or their
granddaughter's wedding.
So we have beautiful things, wehave work clothes.
Somebody gets a job at Targetand they suddenly need a lot of
red shirts.
We're going to find that forthem in our clothing closet.
So we also do household linensthere and we do shoes, we do
(27:29):
coats and what we really likeabout it.
Because you know, we all have amoment where you need to go out
for a little retail therapy andthat's fun.
You get to go into Town Centerand visit the great stores and
take off the stress Imagine ifyou don't have any money to do
that and so we like to make thatshopping experience feel like
it's the retail therapy where nomoney exchanges hands.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And how do you donate to so people?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
can drop things off at Six Mile.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Road, we have a big container.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Right now during construction.
That may change.
And then there's also bins overat Bowman Road where people can
drop off on the weekends orMonday through Thursday from 10
to 4.
Volunteers are there andreceive.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Where exactly on Bowman is it?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So it's 1111, right across from Kudzu Bakery and the
shopping center there that hasthe designer shoe warehouse in.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Oh, okay, used to be.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Atkinson Pools and Spas showroom.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Now it is, it's where we're at, and the reason why
I'm asking is because in myneighborhood all the time
everyone's like where can Ibring these clothes, where can I
bring this, where can I bringthis?
And I hate to admit it but Ididn't know you took clothes.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Oh, my goodness.
So here we go, and there'salways still more to learn.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Everyone listening out there.
Okay, you don't just have tothrow them out.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Now about being transparent.
We get probably five times theamount of clothing that we can
use.
So I would like people to knowwe do things that we can't use,
things that might be beyondgently used or again are out of
style and we think, oh, weprobably wouldn't wear that,
we're not going to put it onAgain.
That goes back to treatingpeople with grace and dignity,
(28:56):
but we will sell those fortextile recycling.
What that allows us to do isbring money back in to help run
the clothing closet and thenalso to purchase underwear and
socks and bras, because thoseare things that we don't use.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You can't donate those.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That's right.
So we do want people to know wedon't always use every single
item that comes in, but everysingle item that come in is used
to support ECHO's mission.
So that jacket you drop off, wemight think, ah, we don't need
any more jackets in this size.
But the money that will come inand it's just pennies on the
pound, but it's going to help usget something that we have to
purchase new.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
So good questions.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And so, and that we just had a newscaster who came
in who read about something onFacebook that we text out.
She used textile recycling andshe said tell me more about that
, and so we want to be clearwith people that we don't want
people.
I was standing in a consignmentshop recently where I heard
someone say they throweverything you donate
immediately into the textilerecycling.
I'm like, no, we don't, we gothrough.
(29:55):
We have volunteers that checkeverything.
But I would say 20% of whatgets donated actually goes out
to clients because we get somuch um, but we can use it.
That's we love to say, how wedon't leave much meat on the
bone.
We will use everything thatcomes through the door to
benefit echo's mission well,look so much more than a food
pantry here I am.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I mean, I know you do more than that, but I'm not
sure many people in MountPleasant realize how much you do
between the food and thedoctors and the dental and
clothing and just you know, likeyou said, support.
It's so important to me.
You've been a huge part of theMount Pleasant town since, again
(30:37):
since I got here eight yearsago.
You were one of the firstthings I heard of, first things
I wanted to get involved with,and I just love that you're
growing.
Tell us a little bit about therenovation.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So back in January of 2020, we had a board retreat
and the decision was made.
The food pantry and theclothing closet were all in the
same space and it was startingto get to be a little unsafe.
Because we're serving morefamilies, we needed more things,
and so they were like we needto build a new facility.
So we went through the wholedue diligence process and
(31:08):
deciding whether we could raiseenough money to do that and
discover that we probablycouldn't.
And, as you'll remember,january of 2020, what happened
two months later?
The world got sick, and so atthat that point, we moved the
clothing closet out and expandedthe warehouse, but we also
decided to do a capital campaignto reconfigure the building.
Because clothing is across town.
(31:28):
We reopened it over there andit's it's for some of our
clients, it's it's hard enoughto get to six mile road and then
you ask them to go three moremiles down the road.
If they pay someone to drivethem to echo, then If they pay
someone to drive them to Echo,then they have to pay someone to
drive them further so, and ourvolunteers miss being a part of
the big picture.
So one of the things we're proudof is that all of our services
(31:48):
are under one roof.
So we did this capital campaignso we can either build a new
building, which didn't, isn'tgoing to happen but instead
we're going to renovate thefacility.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So the closed closet is going to come back.
It's coming back, that's right,it is.
Oh, that's wonderful.
So that's what that's all about.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
So it's one stop shopping now Correct, that's
right, so we'll get back to that.
So we have not been since thepandemic hit, but hopefully, if
we break ground this Aprilthat's the plan that it'll take
us about a year, so I'm hopingin April of 2025, maybe you'll
have me come back and talk aboutthe new facility.
In the new renovated facility,there will be one door that
(32:21):
people walk through to get helpand then there will be one door
where you drop off your clothingand food donations at the same
place.
So, again, trying to make it assimple as possible whether
you're coming for help or tohelp.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's awesome, and I know this is going to be a
difficult question because youdo so much.
But is there a favorite part ofbeing an executive director?
Is there something that justmakes you either smile or cry
with joys of happiness?
Or, you know, running anorganization like this, it's got
to be emotional.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
It is, and thank you.
I do this because I'mpassionate about people.
I always tell people in thetown where I grew up, if there
had been an Echo, I think mygrandmother would have been
eligible.
I have several aunts and unclesthat probably would have been,
and to me they're some of thegreatest people in my life and I
want to treat everybody whowalks through our door like
they're somebody's aunt or uncleor grandparent.
(33:14):
And they were good, hardworkingpeople.
They just didn't have a lot,and so to me it's the people
that are the best part, but it'sthe client story.
So this past year we wereselected to be a recipient of
the Good Cheer Fund that thePost and Courier did that
program where they collectdonations, and our plan was, if
(33:35):
the money came in, that we wouldhelp senior citizens, because
you know we have that program tohelp the kids.
Um, and so there was agentleman who got a new mattress
through this whole program andhe called and left a message
that one of my colleaguesforwarded to me where he said
denise, do you hear that?
Do you hear that?
That's my back yellinghallelujah?
I haven't had a new mattress in40 years and I was like oh, and
(33:57):
those are the things where youjust think sometimes it's the
simplest things that we do.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
I did that.
I did that.
I have something to do withthat Somehow.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
I was here and made it possible.
I wrote the grant that got usselected.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
That brought in the money.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, it's those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Make an impact, it makes an impact and it reminds
people that they're still good.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
We talk all the time that ECHO provides help, but,
more importantly, we providehope Absolutely, and to me,
that's the part that I love thebest about it is that I'm a
piece of making sure that peoplestill believe about the good in
this world, because it can beeasy to ignore that or not see
that enough in our world.
So I love thinking I'm a smallpart of that in Mount Pleasant
(34:38):
and who knows, maybe somebody wehelp in Mount Pleasant or we
help some mother who helps herchild who's going to go to
college someday and figure outthe cure to cancer and solve
some of our bigger problems inthis world.
I just think I'm playing a smallpart in trying to make this
world a better place, so that'smy favorite part when you need
people to help carry that waterand do those things.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Can you tell us about some of your local partnerships
, especially maybe on the foodside, sure, how you get those
things into your facility tothen give out?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
That's right.
So five days a week we have adriver that visits 13 local
grocery stores to pick up.
They're called our retailpartners.
Those are partnerships that areall brokered through Feeding
America at the Low Country FoodBank level.
So, like when Costco and MountPleasant opened up, we didn't go
and say can we come and pick up?
Low Country Food Bank said Echowill be able to be a recipient
(35:24):
of all of that.
Costco is one of our biggestplayers.
We actually had to put in asecond walk-in cooler when they
became one of our partners.
But we pick up from Lowe's 141.
We pick up from Aldi.
Three Harris Teeters have justjoined Publix to both Walmarts
in Mount Pleasant.
So there's lots of places.
(35:45):
There's the 48 churches that dogrocery bag Sundays that help
to stock those shelves, and thenthere's the 130 communities
that did food drives last yearas well.
So those are some of ourbiggest partners.
I would also say another bigpartner on the medical side is
Roper, st Francis.
So they provide free lab workfor all of our patients.
So if the nurse practitionerthinks I need some diagnostic
testing, we are able to givethat person a voucher to go to
Roper to get that blood work,that x-ray or that test that
(36:08):
needs to be done so that thatinformation can come back and
then the nurse practitioner canhelp to figure out what is the
right course of action.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
We've come a long way from just pulling teeth.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
We've come a long way where all that's concerned.
So Roper is another big partnerof ours as well, as well as
MUSC.
So it takes big and small thepartnerships to happen.
And then Nucor this will betheir 12th year of sponsoring
our golf tournament as well, sothey're a major player in terms
of and Fleet Feet I want to givea big shout out to, because of
(36:38):
the Cocoa Cup that brought in$12,000.
It cost us $10,000 a day to runthe wellness pantry, so they
helped keep it running foranother day as a result of that
$10,000 a day.
Yeah, and that's thinking about.
You know, we've got two bigwalk-in coolers and a walk-in
(36:58):
freezer and the electric billback there alone, but it's all
the costs associated, includingthat we also purchase a certain
amount of food.
So that's been our biggestincrease lately is we're not
seeing more people.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
You're not alone there.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Exactly.
Well, think about that.
So you do grocery bag Sundaysevery month and people still do.
But if you used to, if youthink well, I have fifty dollars
a month to fill this bag.
Fifty dollars doesn't fill thatbag as far as much as it did.
So people are coming in andstill donating, being very
generous, but we're even seeingthat it takes more people
(37:29):
because people are giving alittle bit less, because the
cost is impacting everyone thecost of food.
And what we're seeing is we'renot seeing more people coming
into Echo right now, but thepeople we're helping are coming
in for more help.
So we have a financialassistance program where we
might help you pay your rent oryour mortgage or utility bill,
and sometimes people would comeand say I need this help.
Well, how about food?
(37:49):
Because you qualify oh, no,things aren't that bad, I don't
need free food.
But more and more people aretaking advantage of the food
pantry.
Um, because their dot,everyone's dollars, do not go as
far as they used to, and so thebiggest ways that people be
helping us right now is againfilling up those grocery bags,
dropping off donations and andsending checks that allow us
then to purchase the food andmake sure we get the items that
(38:11):
are most requested and mostneeded through the food pantry.
So what's the most requested?
So great question.
I actually had asked us a fewyears ago.
The most requested think veryregional, so the most popular
grits are always that's on thetop 10 list.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Rice is another big one that people really like so
sometimes I could talk to youabout beans.
That's a whole issue.
Peanut butter is another bigone that people really like, so
sometimes I could talk to youabout beans.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
That's a whole issue.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Peanut butter is another big one.
So yeah, those good fillingthings, Denny Moore beef stew
flies off the shelves.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Any kind of beef stew .
Speaker 2 (38:42):
I've actually bought quite a few cans of that myself
to donate Laundry detergent, anysort of toothpaste, deodorant,
shampoo, household cleaningsupply, and the reason for that
is if you have food stamps,which the average family gets
about a hundred dollars worth offood stamps so you know how far
a hundred dollars goes, but youcan't use that to purchase any
kind of non-food items.
So if you have no income comingin now, you have no way to buy
(39:06):
toothpaste.
You have no way to buy alaundry detergent, and a mother
of seven tell me once that whenshe came to Echo and there was
laundry detergent, she thoughtshe hit the lottery and I was
like oh, I feel so a littleembarrassed that I've never been
that excited about being ableto purchase laundry detergent,
so we start asking for it.
Coffee is another thing, highticket items at the grocery
store that people are like, oh,I can't have coffee in the
(39:27):
morning Because again, someone'sgenerous enough to do that.
But lima beans were the mostpopular canned vegetables.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
See, it's the beans Beans.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Yes, that's true.
I was thinking dried beans whenyou said that, and then peaches
were the most, or pineapple wasthe most popular and peaches
was the second Pineapple.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Really.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
But fresh fruits and vegetables are also very, very
popular and again through Costco, we get a lot of that.
We do a monthly farmer's marketand we like to remind people
whatever you buy for your family, you can donate to us.
So fresh fruits and vegetables,feel free to Well.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
those are also so important for the kids.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
They are Right.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Because you want to be able.
I mean, feeding children is onething, feeding them healthy and
good for them is so much moreimportant.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Thank you for saying that.
So like if you would buylow-sodium canned vegetables for
your family, we ask that youwould donate that as well, and
that if you buy canned fruitthat's not in high-fructose
syrup, we ask that you would dothat as well.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
That's a really great point and I think that's
something again that I wouldn'thave thought of, right?
And I do the bags all the time,so you know, for our listeners
out there, think about that whenyou're purchasing or even
cleaning out your cupboard.
Whatever you have that you'reable to donate food Hopefully
it's something that you'd wantyour child to eat, Correct,
(40:44):
right, instead of just fillingthis bag with, you know, swedish
fish.
Let's just, you know, let'smake sure it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
And quantity is important, but we're a wellness
pantry.
Is what our wellness and that'sintentional that 20% of the
food that we have available tothe families that we're serving
is fresh fruits and vegetables.
It does not mean you have tochoose 20% of it, but what we do
is so.
It's a point system that ourclients use to get a certain
number of points to spend eachmonth.
The fresh items cost lesspoints than the canned items do,
(41:14):
because we're trying toencourage people to take those
fresh items because our clientsare going to go for quantity,
sometimes over quality.
But you know we're servingpeople with gluten allergies and
food sensitivities, and so eventhe soups.
At one time we used to justhave a category called soups and
I said, if you give me cream ofbroccoli and I'm lactose
(41:34):
intolerant what does that do tohealth?
Speaker 3 (41:36):
So?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
now we have broth-based soups and
cream-based soups because again,we want people to get the
things their family will enjoyand that they can eat.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
That's so important.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
Stephanie, what are the hours of operation that
someone can deliver things anddonate?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So 10 to 4, Monday through Friday is the donations
and then if people are lookingfor help.
It's 10 to 4, monday throughThursday and then Friday by
appointment.
There's a lot of paperwork thatgoes associated with what we do
, so Fridays is the day thestaff gets caught up on all of
that.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
Well, again, if you have not taken a tour, but you
did mention they're going tostop for a little bit that is
correct.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
Make that clear before I tell everybody to go
that's right so, but you couldstill go to our website under
ways to help click on the tourbutton.
We still have tours happeningin this month there are still
two and two that will behappening in march as well and
then you can also follow us onsocial media.
During construction, we'll bedoing lots of updates about
what's happening, showing peoplethe progress, and we're also
looking to get an online virtualtour available through our
(42:36):
website.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
So well, it's going to be fun then, because the next
tours will be your new facilityall right.
So if you can't just hold onuntil they reopen, and then go
see their new place, because youwill be more amazed than it
even is now.
That's right, and reopen fortours.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
That's the big thing.
Please help spread the wordthat we are somehow during
construction.
We are going to continue to runthe medical clinic, the dental
clinic, the food pantry and theclothing closet.
We're still planning on.
Um, that is the fun.
That is my every day right nowfiguring all of that out.
But, um, we love to say wenever closed a single day during
covid.
And we're going to figure outconstruction is just the is just
the COVID we see coming, sowe're going to figure out how to
(43:13):
do it.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
At least you have time to plan.
We are, we're planning.
We did not have time.
It wasn't like that day thatcame to.
You know, the whole world cameto a stop.
That's right?
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Um, well, before we let you go, michael, and.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
I are going to throw some fun questions at you, rapid
you.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
So if you could, have dinner with any historical
figure.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Who would it be?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Maya Angelou.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
The author and poet.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
I have read just about every book that she has
published.
I saw her speak in person and Iwould love the chance to just
to be able to speak to her.
She is a person who came fromsome very humble roots, but
always looking forward andlifting her eyes up made sure
that, so I would love to be ableto be inspired by her.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Night owl because I spent 25 years working on
college campuses, but I'm slowlyturning into a morning person
because I have a board thatloves to meet at 8 o'clock in
the morning.
But if I had my choice, I'drather be up all night.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
So this will lead into another one.
I'm going to steal it.
Kathy, coffee or tea.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Tea, iced tea.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
Iced tea.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Iced tea Unsweet With lots of ice With lots of ice,
lots of ice, that's right.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Like something that you just you know.
So almost embarrassed.
It is almost embarrassed to saythat I am hooked on hallmark
movies.
Um, during the christmas seasonI love a good hallmark movie
and of course they show themyear-round.
Which?
Speaker 1 (44:40):
is fun I was gonna say july, that's true to watch,
and I will tell you why in myjob.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
There's so much everyday problem solving and
uncertainty about things thatcome up that people were helping
have a lot of uncertainty intheir life, but a hallmark movie
starts at eight and by tenthere's a happy ending.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
I enjoy that two hours, every time.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Every time there's a happy ending, and I love the
predictability.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I love the big city boy moves to the farm, girl and
you know, and then it snows inthe middle of Georgia or
whatever, and I fall in love andit is a great stress reliever.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
I have a a friend who's like oh, I watch Law Order
.
I'm like that stresses me out.
They're just happy stories.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
I have friends that are addicted to crime shows.
That's what calms them down.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
No, that doesn't calm me down.
Well see, I mean but, and I'mfriends with them, that's a
little scary, right.
And a bag of potato chips whileI'm watching and a glass of
wine are my other two guiltypleasures, Very nice.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
That's awesome.
That's outstanding.
Let's see, one thing we have toask are you sweet or savory?
And we talked about pancakes orwaffles earlier.
So sweet or savory pancakes orwaffles?
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Savory would be my, but again, as you get a little
older, somehow that sweet stuff.
I will not turn down any darkchocolate that comes my way To
go with the wine.
That's right, there you go.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Well, they make a perfect pair to each other.
I'm going to bother with onemore.
If you weren't doing whatyou're doing now and doing an
amazing job at it, by the way isthere a dream alternate job
that you'd be doing right now?
Speaker 2 (46:12):
I would love to be an events coordinator, and
particularly a wedding planner.
I think would be just great fun.
That's my other thing.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
You want to deal with bridezillas?
You know what?
Oh yeah, really, I would beunfazed by that.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
I'd want to smack them all.
So that's sort of the otherthing, I think.
Or the other part is I'd loveto in Mount Pleasant, I think,
or the other part is I'd love to, in Mount Pleasant, have this
little fabulous gift shop.
I always thought that would bea fun thing to do.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
I'll come work for you.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Yeah, and wrap people's birthday presents to
give to other people.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
So it's something that feels happy.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Yes, and what I do at Echo makes me really happy.
This truly is the greatprivilege of my life is running
this organization.
We can tell Stephanie.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
We can tell.
I cannot thank you enough onbehalf of Michael and myself and
Charleston Radio Group and theMount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce, which, of course,you're also a huge participant
in.
We see you all the time, and sowe hope we're here for you, as
you're here for the community aswell.
Cannot thank you enough foryour time today.
And everyone listen.
You know there's a lot oforganizations that are very
(47:10):
worthy very worthy organizationsin this town and, of course,
echo is just one of them.
So please, you know, take a lookinto it and see if there's
anything that you can donate.
Clean out your closet,something in your pantry,
something in your refrigeratorand, of course, something in
your wallet Anything, anythinghelps.
(47:31):
So, stephanie, thank you sovery much for being here with us
today.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
You know, last week at the chamber meeting, when Jim
Sonfeld spoke and he talkedabout the importance of giving
back in some way.
I hope that's the messageeverybody takes.
It may not be ECHO there's alot of great organizations but
you have plenty to choose fromand if you want to give back to
this community, there's lots ofways to do it.
I hope you'll think of Echo andif not, I'll connect people to
another organization.
Well, we're thinking of Echotoday because you're here with
(47:56):
us.
So thank you.
I appreciate that.
Thank you, which is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Again, thank you so very much for your time.
Before we leave, I'd like tothank again our sponsors.
Charleston Radio Group.
Brian, thank you always forbeing here for us.
If you want to be a sponsor ofour podcast or you'd like to be
a guest on our podcast, you canreach out to one of us at the
chamber.
Make sure and I always make Ihave to read this, because
there's so many ways to get thispodcast.
(48:19):
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels
Spotify, itunes, youtube,instagram, facebook and LinkedIn
.
Mike Mike.
Mike Compton, who was ourmarketing chair, has got us
covered, got us covered.
So thank you again, all of usfor being here today.
Michael, always a pleasureco-hosting with you.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Stephanie, we wish you guys the best of luck with
the renovation and we lookforward to seeing you again soon
.
Until next time, Mount Pleasant.
Until next time, listeners.
Well, hello and welcome to the Building Business
Podcast powered by the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce.
We're recording in theCharleston Radio Group studio.
Thank you, brian, for beinghere with us.
There's such great supportersof the Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce.
And thank you, of course, toall of our supporters helping us
out.
Kathy Herman here.
(00:28):
I am the current president ofthe Mount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce and I am also themarketing director for Mount
Pleasant Town Center.
So thank you for joining us,and I am here with my co-host,
mike Cochran.
He is currently the MountPleasant Chamber of Commerce
Foundation Chair for this year.
So welcome, michael.
(00:49):
Thank you, and we have ourguest of honor today.
I'm so excited that we are herewith the Executive Director of
the East Cooper CommunityOutreach, stephanie Kelly.
Stephanie, welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Thank you very much.
It's an honor to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
So before we start talking about ECHO, I do do have
to say I moved to MountPleasant about eight years ago,
and Stephanie Kelly in adifferent role we won't talk
about that, but a different rolewas one of the first people I
met in Mount Pleasant or in theCharleston area, that's right.
First business meeting that Ihad in this town was with this
lady right here, Stephanie Kelly.
Speaker 2 (01:24):
And there you are.
Now you're the president of thechamber.
I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky.
Speaker 1 (01:36):
Yes, but what a?
You know, the minute I metStephanie, I knew that she was
someone that I was going to bedoing business with for a very
long time and, of course, whenyou came into this position, I
was thrilled, not only for you,but, of course, for everybody
that I know that you're going tohelp.
So tell us a little bit aboutyourself how you got involved
with Echo, how long you've beenthere, sure?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
So thank you so much.
So next month will actually bemy seven month or seven year
anniversary, as the executivedirector Just feels like seven
months and actually.
But I've been involved withECHO probably for about the last
15 years.
My husband and I started asdonors.
We wanted to help a localnonprofit and so when we
realized we were in a positionto start giving back, we chose
ECHO because we wanted to helpsome community organization that
(02:16):
really helped with the causesthat ECHO does, and then got
invited to take a tour.
I want to thank you letter itsaid, come in for a tour and I
thought, well, why not?
So when I left my career inhigher education, was living
here full time.
I took a tour and thought I'vegot to get more involved.
So I actually volunteered withthe organization, helped to run
fundraisers, ran the golftournament for three years.
(02:37):
Then I was invited to join theboard and then, when this
position opened up, I threw myhat in the ring.
So I always love to joke aboutthe fact that I get to go to
work at a place that I used towork for free.
But that's just because I'm sopassionate about what Echo does.
Speaker 1 (02:49):
Well, you said something about the tour.
I remember when the Chamber hadtheir Before 9 at Echo.
I know they've done it a coupletimes, but I remember when I
was there and it was the firsttime I got behind the scenes
tour and do you remember all Ikept saying was wow, wow, this
place.
I had no idea what went onthere, and so it's very
(03:13):
enlightening and thank you forthat.
Speaker 2 (03:19):
We, twice a month, do an open tour where people can
sign up to come in and be ableto go through the building.
Because, you're right, I tootook the tour.
I had heard the missionstatement, I knew the things we
did, but there's something, whenyou actually walk through that
dental clinic and medical clinicand the food pantry and talk to
the staff about the mission andvision, that does really open
your eyes to the needs in thecommunity and also how much can
happen in such a little place.
So we've got a little place onSix Mile Road, but big things
(03:42):
happen out of that facility.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I agree 100%, Mike.
Were you on that tour with me,I think?
Speaker 3 (03:46):
So yes, I was.
It's interesting because withEcho I started with a tour and
then started with the Before 9,went to that.
Then the company that I workwith, south Carolina Farm Bureau
Insurance, we did a donationduring COVID and then was able
to jump through with the chamberto be a volunteer Right.
So I've been there multipletimes, but it started with a
(04:09):
tour, just like you, and you hiton a lot of great things just a
second ago about the servicesthat you offer.
That we'll dive into.
But the thing that impressed methe most was how clean and
organized and well-run it was onthe back end, thank you, and
we'll discuss what's on thefront, but the back end.
I was like, if it's this goodback here, you know, just in the
(04:30):
day-to-day operations andsweeping the floor type of thing
it's got to be well run allthroughout.
It was very, very impressive,thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
And there's a lot of intentionality about even our
facility.
Probably about 10 years ago wehad a board member who felt that
the lobby could be morewelcoming and so she paid to
redo the floors and buy newfurniture.
But the thought of it's hardenough to walk through the door
and ask for help.
We want people to feelcomfortable.
And then, you're right, theenvironment that the staff and
volunteers work in.
We want it to be efficient andclean, and we do hope it sends a
(05:01):
message to the community thatwe are good stewards of the
donations that people give to us, that we're trying to treat the
facility, the people, well, and, again, that being good
stewards is really important.
Speaker 1 (05:13):
Well, I'm sure everyone listening knows of ECHO
, but why don't we take a minuteto explain to them what the
primary mission of ECHO is?
Speaker 2 (05:22):
Sure.
So our mission statement isthat we provide assistance,
guidance and resources to helpour neighbors navigate life's
challenges.
That assistance are the thingsyou see on the tour the medical
and dental clinic, the picturesof our clothing closet that
right now is over on Bowman Road, our food pantry.
The guidance is the work thatour staff does in really helping
people who feel lost becausethey've just experienced a
(05:44):
divorce, the death of abreadwinner, a terminal illness
and they're just lostfinancially, and so our staff
works with people.
We'd love to say that we meetpeople where they are and help
them to figure out where theywant to go.
We don't define success forpeople, and that resource is
part of our mission is that wedo a lot at Six Mile Road, but
we we cannot do everything, andso there are 200 other
(06:05):
nonprofits in Charleston Countyand we like to connect people to
other agencies that can helpthem with things that we're not
able to help with.
So that's an important part.
We started, for those that don'tknow, after Hurricane Hugo as
an emergency relief effort 34years ago.
There weren't the systems inplace when a natural disaster
hits, so instead it was theparishioners at Christ, our King
(06:27):
Church that said we need to dosomething to help people who had
just had that storm hit.
I like to say, 34 years later,we're still helping people with
storms blowing through theirlives every day.
But it was our founders vision.
Is that in those original daysafter the storm, when people
were lining up for food andwater, that he was seeing a lot
of people and talking to?
Is that in those original daysafter the storm, when people
were lining up for food andwater, that he was seeing a lot
(06:48):
of people and talking to themand discovering that the storm
wasn't the reason they werestanding in line at Echo?
They had needs long before?
Speaker 3 (06:54):
Hurricane.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Hugo, and so it was his thought that what was
happening after the storm couldbecome a permanent resource in
the community.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
And 34 years later, like you said, 34 years later
and people still need help.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
They do, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (07:07):
So it's great that these doors are still open and
you're continuing to grow.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Yeah, and that's only because people in the community
are willing to support us.
And so we always say that wecan only serve the community
with the support of thecommunity.
And so if you visit our websiteand I hope everyone will at
wwwechocharlestonorg, you canclick on one button if you need
help, and you can click onanother button if you want to
help, and we realize you needboth of those pieces of the
(07:32):
puzzle to make all of this work.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
No, I agree 100%, and we were talking earlier
Stephanie and running anonprofit in this day and age
can be extremely challenging,and so we're wondering about any
unique challenges about runningECHO, especially in Mount
Pleasant, and hopefully can helpsome other local nonprofits or
someone who's even thinkingabout starting a nonprofit in
(07:55):
Mount Pleasant.
Speaker 2 (07:56):
And thank you for that question.
I think the part about thatquestion what's a unique
challenge of running a nonprofitin Mount Pleasant is often that
people don't believe there areneeds in this community.
So we get asked that all thetime why is there a need for a
place like ECHO in MountPleasant, or Mount Perfect as
people like to call it, and sorecognizing that in Mount
Pleasant we have the fourthhighest food insecurity rate in
(08:19):
the state of South Carolinathere are some of those
statistics that you know theChamber's not going to put out
there.
That's not your job to do, butit is our job to make sure that
we're meeting those needs in thecommunity.
And so to me, I think one ofthe unique challenges is
attracting people's attention towhat we do, because if you just
sort of look around at Pleasant, you just don't think there's a
place that you'd have to donateclothing or food, and so I
(08:41):
think that's one of the biggestchallenges.
But there's opportunities.
And so my advice to anybodyrunning a nonprofit is you've
got to be out.
Just like Town Center is tryingto attract business and your
insurance company is, we have toattract people to want to
support us as well.
And so how you're outconstantly telling the story,
the good things that arehappening, sharing the stories
(09:01):
of the lives that are changed,that's an important part of the
work that we do.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
do that we have to market to attract people to
being a part of our circle ofneighbors, helping neighbors.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Wow, that's amazing.
Stephanie, earlier we talkedabout, you know, pulling
heartstrings, to just do that.
Could you talk a little bitabout the medical side and the
dental side of what ECHO does?
Speaker 2 (09:21):
Sure.
So I'll go back to MonsignorCarter, our founder.
His thought was, again backwhen Echo decided to become
incorporated to be a nonprofit,is that people are having
trouble putting food on thetable, they're probably not
taking care of their medical anddental needs.
So that was his vision that wewould expand beyond just what we
used to call basic needs.
Now we talk about those beingessential needs.
People need to eat, they needto have clothing to wear, but
(09:44):
they also have to take care oftheir health, and so it was his
goal that we would open amedical clinic first.
And so he approached an areachurch and they said no, they
didn't want to partner with us.
So he said fine, we'll have adental clinic, and we have
people who remember our originaldental clinic.
It used to be one chair in themiddle of a mobile home that was
donated to ECHO through BillyGraham Ministries.
Wow, no air conditioning.
(10:06):
We still have dentists whovolunteer with us who actually
worked in that clinic, and allwe did was extracting teeth.
And over the years, the ideahas been how do we just not pull
teeth, but how do we helppeople save their teeth?
And also recognizing thatpulling a tooth takes the pain
away, but it's not helpingpeople's oral health be better.
So both our medical and dentalclinic are really trying to help
uninsured individuals maintaintheir health so they can
(10:29):
continue to go to work and takecare of their families or, again
, not to continue to perpetuatethe challenges that they have
because you have a medicalcondition and you can't afford
the care to take care of it.
It just doesn't help withquality of life and and so the
medical clinic still doesextractions, but we also do
hygiene and we do fillings andsort of basic dentistry.
We're not doing cosmeticdentistry there.
(10:50):
And then we have a medicalclinic that provides good
continuity of care forindividuals.
The goal of that clinic is tokeep people out of the emergency
room when really what they needis primary care.
Speaker 1 (11:01):
Is the medical clinic at Six Mile.
Speaker 2 (11:03):
It is.
Speaker 1 (11:04):
I remember the dental .
Speaker 2 (11:04):
I didn't remember the medical it is, and actually
with our renovation projectthat's coming up, we will have a
health services wing.
So the two areas will betogether, which we also hope
will help people that come in toget that tooth pulled.
That will right there they'llbe sitting like why don't we
sign you up?
And also to see a doctor andmeet with one of our nurse
practitioners.
So we've got some great storiesof a woman who she was the
(11:27):
primary breadwinner in herhousehold.
She cared for her 80-year-oldmother.
She came in to get her toothpulled.
Her blood pressure was too highso we said can't do that unless
you get medical clearance.
Well, I don't have a doctor,great, let's get you over to see
the medical staff.
And she walked in and the nursepractitioner immediately sent
her to the emergency room.
She had a quadruple bypass thatafternoon.
She comes back about a monthlater for a checkup and the
(11:51):
nurse practitioner saidsomething's still not right
about your coloring.
She had to have a pacemaker putin Again.
Something would have happenedto her.
Where would her 80-year-oldmother have gone?
because she was the caregiver.
So there's just interestingstories there that I do say we
are saving lives every day.
That's impact, it is impact,that's impact.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
Regarding your medical staff, are they all
volunteer, or are they paidstaff or combination A little?
Speaker 2 (12:12):
combination.
Yeah, so the medical staff wepay faculty members from the
College of Nursing so they'renurse practitioners, but they
bring with them residents, thepharmacist from MUSCC and
students that are all volunteers.
And then in the dental clinic,we pay a dentist to be there
during the day and then peoplevolunteer at night time, and
then we also have fourth yeardental students from MUSC and
(12:35):
Trident technical college isproviding us with hygiene
students so it's wonderful asmuch as we can get um donated,
we will do.
And then um, you know the thechallenge of course during COVID
is we lost a lot of ourvolunteer dentists because their
practices were closed for a fewmonths when COVID started and
then they had to get back towork and then sort of got a
little out of the routine ofvolunteering.
(12:57):
So at that point we had tostart paying a dentist.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
Well, look, that's another way you're helping the
community.
You're helping these studentslearn.
Speaker 2 (13:02):
That's right, Absolutely yeah.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
It's a good way to say it Hands-on practice and
meeting the community, thepeople who need them the most
and they're able to come helpout with you.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
It's amazing partnerships between MUSC,
trident Technical College, echoand again trying to also get as
much bang for our buck, which iswhere again, this volunteer
piece comes in.
We also have speaking ofvolunteers.
Last year we had over 200volunteers active volunteers who
have a weekly shift that showup like it's their job.
They are such good, hardworkers and then, throughout the
(13:34):
year, like the chamber comingin, we probably had close to 350
volunteers who helped us and itwas worth almost a million
dollars over a million dollarsin value of services that they
provided.
If we had to pay someone to dothat work, wow.
So again, really great thingshappening with the people who
volunteer and give their time.
Speaker 1 (13:53):
And, speaking of money, we all know you need that
to survive in the nonprofitworld.
What are some of the ways thatyou found to be the most
successful for fundraising and Iknow it's not just about money,
because we were talking earlierand you mentioned Christ, our
King and every month they haveGrocery Bag Sunday and people in
(14:15):
the parish just fill up grocerybags and it goes directly to
Echo, which I am very proud andhonored to say I do every month.
So that obviously fills yourfood pantry, but you need money
for other things.
So what are some of your moresuccessful fundraising projects
or ideas that you've done?
Speaker 2 (14:31):
So thank you for pointing out that it does take
money to run a nonprofit.
All the services we provide tothe people who come in the door
asking for help are free, butthere is nothing free about any
of the things that we do, and soabout 13% of our operating
budget comes from fundraisers.
I'm going to speak intoexistence that what we found to
be really effective is ourpickleball tournament that's
(14:51):
coming up in June.
It's Charleston's firstinaugural pickleball tournament
that we'll be doing on theweekend of June 14th, 15th and
16th, and that speaks to whenyou can get people doing
something they love and doing itfor a cause, oh, absolutely
right.
So, we also have an annual golftournament that helps us to
raise money, and then we havemoved from large galas during
(15:12):
COVID Prior to that, we did abig gala, and now we do these
small events called Do GoodGatherings, and so there are
about 100 to 125 people, versusan event with 300 to 400 people
in where we have an opportunityto help educate them about what
echo does.
There's a silent auction,there's an opportunity to make a
donation on our impact appeal,but we're finding those small,
(15:34):
intimate gatherings sort ofmirror what echo is all about,
of neighbors helping neighborswho actually can feel very
connected to individuals.
So those are things.
Our biggest way that moneycomes in, though, is through
individuals, that and businessesthat make donations to us.
Um, that's 80 of our budget isjust people who are willing to
say I have a little extra andI'm willing to give to help
(15:54):
somebody who needs thatassistance.
80 of your budget budget Wow,maybe 75, but it's, at least
it's a really it's still a lot,that's right, it's still a lot.
I told you I never did anaccounting class, but it's a big
part of the budget.
It's truly.
It's just it's churches thatmake donations.
It's, you know, your businessthat came in during COVID it's,
(16:16):
and the bulk of our donors giveunder $250.
And the bulk of our donors giveunder $250.
It takes a lot more of them.
So last year we had 1,229entities that made a financial
donation.
And then we have all thosepeople that are giving their
time and their talent andthey're filling grocery bags.
People are giving in so manyincredible ways that it all adds
up to make a big differenceFinancially.
(16:38):
You know you ask about uniquechallenges.
Nonprofits have the samechallenges your businesses do
about trying to hire good peopleand pay them fair living wages
and make sure they feel investedin that we're doing their
professional development, thatwe've got good technology so
that they can do their work, andso there are costs associated
that aren't real sexy, butthey're necessary so that we can
(17:02):
continue to meet people wherethey are and provide help.
And so financial donations isprobably the biggest area, along
with food, that we can alwaysuse more of, and that's not so
that we can just keep gettingbetter equipment, but it's just
so we can keep up.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And you know I think we said this, michael and I met
with Joe Elmore from theCharleston Animal Society for
one of these amazing podcastsand we were talking about.
You know, there's people whodon't have a lot of extra money
right, but they do have time.
They have time.
Absolutely, and I think it'sreally important for our
listeners to understand thatgiving of your time is just as
(17:39):
valuable as if you're able togive thousands of dollars,
because these organizationscannot run without the help of
volunteers.
Absolutely.
So if you're thinking abouthelping out and you just say,
you know, I just don't have themoney, you know, you can find
the time.
That's right, so just alwayskeep that in the back of your
mind.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
That's right and we do.
Now we're getting ready to gounder construction.
We did a capital campaign twoyears ago to help renovate our
current facility, so this willstop for about a year, but on
the first Saturday of each monthwe have groups come in, like
the chamber group.
It's also a time when familiescan come in, and what I love
about that is parents want theirchildren to see them in action,
(18:19):
and so that's been a reallyeffective time for us, for
people who work during the weekthat you could once a year you
could every Saturday sign up tobe able to come in and help.
We're hoping to be selected asthe beneficiary for the Blessing
of the Fleet this year and thenwe have to provide about 100
volunteers.
You could sign up to help withthat event and say I'm
representing Echo, the Cocoa CupEvery year.
(18:41):
We're a recipient for the lastsix years and again are looking
for people who will go and helpthat race run, knowing that what
you're doing will help bringmoney back into Echo.
So there's all sorts of ways,and we love when people call and
say well, I can't come inMonday through Friday.
Great, could you do a fooddrive in your community?
You do a laundry detergentdrive.
So we will always meet peoplewhere they are and figure out
(19:04):
how they can engage their family, their mahjong group, their
bunco club, their book clubs tobe able to help us out.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
I remember, at Town Center last last holiday, we had
our first ever.
We had a special holidayconcert in December of 22.
Yeah, right, and I, you know Idon't like to charge people for
things, right, but I always, Ialways want to help.
So what we did is, instead of,instead of an admission, a price
admission for a ticket you hadto bring canned food Canned
(19:33):
goods Mm-hmm.
And and Stephanie was like.
Speaker 2 (19:36):
I'm all over it, I'll be there, and she was there
with the van and barrels andeveryone who listened brought
canned food.
Speaker 1 (19:46):
But I think it's every little bit helps, right?
I mean it has to Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
And we'll have that situation even with our clients
sometimes, that maybe theyreceived something at Christmas
from a family member but theycan't wear it and they want to
donate it, even though they'recoming to our clothing closet.
And so it's big and small.
I think I shared with you thestory we were talking earlier.
During COVID.
(20:10):
We had a little eight-year-oldboy who had a rock collection.
He saw on the news that therewere people experiencing
homelessness in the Charlestonarea so he went out, unknownst
to his mother and sold his rockcollection to the area neighbors
and kept, sent home with allthis money.
And she's like what are youdoing?
And he said I sold my rockcollection and the neighbors
bought rocks because he wantedto be able to give back.
(20:32):
And so it's big and small waysthat, but it all adds up.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
And I was it is.
Speaker 2 (20:38):
And I say to our staff all the time you don't
know if the person walkingthrough the door needs a can of
chicken noodle soup, or they'recoming to donate a can of
chicken noodle soup, or they'recoming to bring $10,000 worth of
Campbell stock.
Speaker 1 (20:49):
All of those people are important to this equation
and we're so glad for their help.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
Great point.
Speaker 3 (20:54):
You know out of a town of over 90,000 people and
you had less than 1,300 cashdonations.
We can do better than that andI hope our listeners hear that.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
And thank you for that.
I figured out.
We did the math.
So last year we served 1,739families, and so then we had
that 1,229.
So we still need 500 familiesor businesses to make a
financial donation.
So there's at least onefinancial donation per family
that we serve.
And that's my challenge is, howdo we get that extra five
(21:24):
hundred and ten?
Okay, everybody.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
You just heard Stephanie's challenge and again,
donations of every size matter.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Last year we had a 2.3 million dollar operating
budget and we raised almost the2.3, but the value of the
services that we provided wasover 3.1.
So I promise for every dollarpeople give, I will get a dollar
25's worth of value back out tothe people that are serving.
And again, that's becauseyou're filling up those grocery
bags and having food drives forus at your events.
(21:51):
It's just amazing thegenerosity in this community.
That's.
That's the part that makes myheart so happy.
Here there's just people thatwant to make a difference.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
And we also work together.
We were talking with the toydrives at holiday time town
center.
For the past I've been thereeight years, it's probably been
over that Adopt some familiesand we get the stores involved
and collect all the toys.
And I think my favorite part iswhen I get the thank you notes
from the families.
I mean, I wish I personallycould adopt four families, but I
(22:23):
can't.
So I reach out to my stores andmy customers and they really do
it, man.
They stand up and they bring somuch joy to these kids, and it
makes me really happy.
It's something I'm very proudof.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
And thank you, because there are churches that
will have angel trees that bringthings.
There's individual familiesagain that do that.
Echo's services are primarilyfor adults, but this is how we
are helping the children, and solast year there were 777
children in the households thatwe were serving and they are
people who are living withsingle moms.
(22:58):
In many cases they're childrenliving with grandparents.
There's a lot of kinship caregoing on in the houses that
we're serving and in many ofthose situations, on the income
that those single moms have,there would not have been
Christmas under the tree if itwasn't for people like you that
are willing to adopt and shopoff the wish list and bring the
items that come in and Christmasis so fun.
I will tell you, when you workat the adopt a family Santa's
(23:21):
closet location and the momspick up and you see their tears
of the relief of my child'sgoing to have a great Christmas
because of somebody else'sgenerosity.
It's very, very heartwarming,and so we do give people the
option.
Would you like to write a noteto the person or individual that
adopted you?
They don't know that it wastown center and you don't know
(23:42):
who they are, but then you getthis neat note.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
We did four families this past holiday.
I have all four, thank younotes in our conference room
because I'm so proud ofeverything that we did to help
out.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
And I hope, michael, as you challenge people, we can
get more donors.
That's part of my job is tomake sure that anyone that
donates to ECHO knows howgrateful we are, because you
often won't hear directly fromthe family, but I can tell you
that our volunteers will sayevery day people say thank you.
If it wasn't for ECHO, whatwould I do?
And so that is for the peoplewho write a check but never take
(24:17):
a tour or never get a chance tointeract with people.
But there's a lot of gratitude,um, that you know, because
people say, well, people aretaking advantage.
And I'm like people are nottaking advantage.
One of my favorite stories I hada gentleman.
He has his own garden and so hehadn't been in all summer.
When mr washington comes in, weall love him because he makes
us all feel like we're the mostimportant person.
He's a world war War II veteranin his late 80s, just the
(24:39):
kindest gentleman.
But I said, where have you been?
And he said, stephanie, mygarden has been growing.
Why would I come in and ask youfor food?
And I was like and it is areminder.
People don't come and ask formore than they need.
They come in because they needhelp and they're grateful for
what they get, but when they cando for on their own, they do on
their own.
I bet you his garden tasteddelicious, exactly, and then I
said and then I have joked andsaid to him well, if you have
(25:01):
extra.
And so he actually the nexttime he came in, brought
something in and said let medonate this.
I mean so our clients, evenwith as little as they have.
So last year the average incomefor our households was $17,140.
That's the average and there'sa lot of people we had 22% of
our clients last year who havezero reportable income.
They have no money coming in.
(25:22):
So they're people that weresweetgrass basket makers Right,
and now they have arthritis andcan't do it and so there's no
money coming in.
Or they had a workplace injuryand so they're waiting to get
disability.
Sure, and as one gentlemanwrote in a survey we did, he
said it's really hard to go tothe grocery store when there's
(25:44):
no money coming into your house.
And so he said if it wasn't forEcho, my family would not have
any means to be able to feed ourfamilies.
But I want to be sure thatpeople know the people that are
being helped, that you may nevermeet, are so grateful for those
who give whatever they can interms of time, talent or
treasure.
Speaker 3 (25:57):
Absolutely.
One of the things that I didnotice when I was there was the
clothes closet.
Can you speak to that?
I mean because I saw that therewere nice clothes.
I mean right now, personally,I'm between my fat suit and my
skinny suit.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
Who isn't Okay, it's February.
Speaker 3 (26:14):
I'm kind of caught in the middle here, but there are
things that I can certainlydonate, but what are those used
for and how?
Does tell us a little bit aboutthat process and that part of
Echo?
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Yeah, so thank you.
So the clothing closet is nowlocated on Bowman Road, so not
at our facility, and we acceptany gently used clothing items
of baby size up to adult sizes.
But our clients and not all ofour clients use the clothing
closet.
We actually have a World War IIvet, another one that's the
only service he uses at Echo isthat he's like I just can't
(26:44):
afford to be able to purchaseclothing when his size changed
too he joked and told me orseasons change.
So our clients can come twice amonth and, based on their family
size, determines the number ofitems that they can get.
If you shop or have seenpictures, our clothing closet is
like a really beautifulconsignment shop because we have
people who buy beautiful thingsin town and then donate Some of
(27:08):
my favorite stories of.
We have women who say that cameinto our clothing closet to
find the dress to wear to theirdaughter's wedding or their
granddaughter's wedding.
So we have beautiful things, wehave work clothes.
Somebody gets a job at Targetand they suddenly need a lot of
red shirts.
We're going to find that forthem in our clothing closet.
So we also do household linensthere and we do shoes, we do
(27:29):
coats and what we really likeabout it.
Because you know, we all have amoment where you need to go out
for a little retail therapy andthat's fun.
You get to go into Town Centerand visit the great stores and
take off the stress Imagine ifyou don't have any money to do
that and so we like to make thatshopping experience feel like
it's the retail therapy where nomoney exchanges hands.
Speaker 1 (27:50):
And how do you donate to so people?
Speaker 2 (27:52):
can drop things off at Six Mile.
Speaker 1 (27:54):
Road, we have a big container.
Speaker 2 (27:56):
Right now during construction.
That may change.
And then there's also bins overat Bowman Road where people can
drop off on the weekends orMonday through Thursday from 10
to 4.
Volunteers are there andreceive.
Speaker 1 (28:06):
Where exactly on Bowman is it?
Speaker 2 (28:07):
So it's 1111, right across from Kudzu Bakery and the
shopping center there that hasthe designer shoe warehouse in.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Oh, okay, used to be.
Speaker 2 (28:15):
Atkinson Pools and Spas showroom.
Speaker 1 (28:17):
Now it is, it's where we're at, and the reason why
I'm asking is because in myneighborhood all the time
everyone's like where can Ibring these clothes, where can I
bring this, where can I bringthis?
And I hate to admit it but Ididn't know you took clothes.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Oh, my goodness.
So here we go, and there'salways still more to learn.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Everyone listening out there.
Okay, you don't just have tothrow them out.
Speaker 2 (28:35):
Now about being transparent.
We get probably five times theamount of clothing that we can
use.
So I would like people to knowwe do things that we can't use,
things that might be beyondgently used or again are out of
style and we think, oh, weprobably wouldn't wear that,
we're not going to put it onAgain.
That goes back to treatingpeople with grace and dignity,
(28:56):
but we will sell those fortextile recycling.
What that allows us to do isbring money back in to help run
the clothing closet and thenalso to purchase underwear and
socks and bras, because thoseare things that we don't use.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
You can't donate those.
Speaker 2 (29:11):
That's right.
So we do want people to know wedon't always use every single
item that comes in, but everysingle item that come in is used
to support ECHO's mission.
So that jacket you drop off, wemight think, ah, we don't need
any more jackets in this size.
But the money that will come inand it's just pennies on the
pound, but it's going to help usget something that we have to
purchase new.
Speaker 3 (29:33):
So good questions.
Speaker 2 (29:34):
And so, and that we just had a newscaster who came
in who read about something onFacebook that we text out.
She used textile recycling andshe said tell me more about that
, and so we want to be clearwith people that we don't want
people.
I was standing in a consignmentshop recently where I heard
someone say they throweverything you donate
immediately into the textilerecycling.
I'm like, no, we don't, we gothrough.
(29:55):
We have volunteers that checkeverything.
But I would say 20% of whatgets donated actually goes out
to clients because we get somuch um, but we can use it.
That's we love to say, how wedon't leave much meat on the
bone.
We will use everything thatcomes through the door to
benefit echo's mission well,look so much more than a food
pantry here I am.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
I mean, I know you do more than that, but I'm not
sure many people in MountPleasant realize how much you do
between the food and thedoctors and the dental and
clothing and just you know, likeyou said, support.
It's so important to me.
You've been a huge part of theMount Pleasant town since, again
(30:37):
since I got here eight yearsago.
You were one of the firstthings I heard of, first things
I wanted to get involved with,and I just love that you're
growing.
Tell us a little bit about therenovation.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
So back in January of 2020, we had a board retreat
and the decision was made.
The food pantry and theclothing closet were all in the
same space and it was startingto get to be a little unsafe.
Because we're serving morefamilies, we needed more things,
and so they were like we needto build a new facility.
So we went through the wholedue diligence process and
(31:08):
deciding whether we could raiseenough money to do that and
discover that we probablycouldn't.
And, as you'll remember,january of 2020, what happened
two months later?
The world got sick, and so atthat that point, we moved the
clothing closet out and expandedthe warehouse, but we also
decided to do a capital campaignto reconfigure the building.
Because clothing is across town.
(31:28):
We reopened it over there andit's it's for some of our
clients, it's it's hard enoughto get to six mile road and then
you ask them to go three moremiles down the road.
If they pay someone to drivethem to echo, then If they pay
someone to drive them to Echo,then they have to pay someone to
drive them further so, and ourvolunteers miss being a part of
the big picture.
So one of the things we're proudof is that all of our services
(31:48):
are under one roof.
So we did this capital campaignso we can either build a new
building, which didn't, isn'tgoing to happen but instead
we're going to renovate thefacility.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
So the closed closet is going to come back.
It's coming back, that's right,it is.
Oh, that's wonderful.
So that's what that's all about.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
So it's one stop shopping now Correct, that's
right, so we'll get back to that.
So we have not been since thepandemic hit, but hopefully, if
we break ground this Aprilthat's the plan that it'll take
us about a year, so I'm hopingin April of 2025, maybe you'll
have me come back and talk aboutthe new facility.
In the new renovated facility,there will be one door that
(32:21):
people walk through to get helpand then there will be one door
where you drop off your clothingand food donations at the same
place.
So, again, trying to make it assimple as possible whether
you're coming for help or tohelp.
Speaker 1 (32:32):
That's awesome, and I know this is going to be a
difficult question because youdo so much.
But is there a favorite part ofbeing an executive director?
Is there something that justmakes you either smile or cry
with joys of happiness?
Or, you know, running anorganization like this, it's got
to be emotional.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
It is, and thank you.
I do this because I'mpassionate about people.
I always tell people in thetown where I grew up, if there
had been an Echo, I think mygrandmother would have been
eligible.
I have several aunts and unclesthat probably would have been,
and to me they're some of thegreatest people in my life and I
want to treat everybody whowalks through our door like
they're somebody's aunt or uncleor grandparent.
(33:14):
And they were good, hardworkingpeople.
They just didn't have a lot,and so to me it's the people
that are the best part, but it'sthe client story.
So this past year we wereselected to be a recipient of
the Good Cheer Fund that thePost and Courier did that
program where they collectdonations, and our plan was, if
(33:35):
the money came in, that we wouldhelp senior citizens, because
you know we have that program tohelp the kids.
Um, and so there was agentleman who got a new mattress
through this whole program andhe called and left a message
that one of my colleaguesforwarded to me where he said
denise, do you hear that?
Do you hear that?
That's my back yellinghallelujah?
I haven't had a new mattress in40 years and I was like oh, and
(33:57):
those are the things where youjust think sometimes it's the
simplest things that we do.
Speaker 3 (34:01):
I did that.
I did that.
I have something to do withthat Somehow.
Speaker 2 (34:04):
I was here and made it possible.
I wrote the grant that got usselected.
Speaker 1 (34:07):
That brought in the money.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
Yeah, it's those sorts of things.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
Make an impact, it makes an impact and it reminds
people that they're still good.
Speaker 2 (34:17):
We talk all the time that ECHO provides help, but,
more importantly, we providehope Absolutely, and to me,
that's the part that I love thebest about it is that I'm a
piece of making sure that peoplestill believe about the good in
this world, because it can beeasy to ignore that or not see
that enough in our world.
So I love thinking I'm a smallpart of that in Mount Pleasant
(34:38):
and who knows, maybe somebody wehelp in Mount Pleasant or we
help some mother who helps herchild who's going to go to
college someday and figure outthe cure to cancer and solve
some of our bigger problems inthis world.
I just think I'm playing a smallpart in trying to make this
world a better place, so that'smy favorite part when you need
people to help carry that waterand do those things.
Speaker 3 (34:55):
Can you tell us about some of your local partnerships
, especially maybe on the foodside, sure, how you get those
things into your facility tothen give out?
Speaker 2 (35:02):
That's right.
So five days a week we have adriver that visits 13 local
grocery stores to pick up.
They're called our retailpartners.
Those are partnerships that areall brokered through Feeding
America at the Low Country FoodBank level.
So, like when Costco and MountPleasant opened up, we didn't go
and say can we come and pick up?
Low Country Food Bank said Echowill be able to be a recipient
(35:24):
of all of that.
Costco is one of our biggestplayers.
We actually had to put in asecond walk-in cooler when they
became one of our partners.
But we pick up from Lowe's 141.
We pick up from Aldi.
Three Harris Teeters have justjoined Publix to both Walmarts
in Mount Pleasant.
So there's lots of places.
(35:45):
There's the 48 churches that dogrocery bag Sundays that help
to stock those shelves, and thenthere's the 130 communities
that did food drives last yearas well.
So those are some of ourbiggest partners.
I would also say another bigpartner on the medical side is
Roper, st Francis.
So they provide free lab workfor all of our patients.
So if the nurse practitionerthinks I need some diagnostic
testing, we are able to givethat person a voucher to go to
Roper to get that blood work,that x-ray or that test that
(36:08):
needs to be done so that thatinformation can come back and
then the nurse practitioner canhelp to figure out what is the
right course of action.
Speaker 1 (36:15):
We've come a long way from just pulling teeth.
Speaker 2 (36:17):
We've come a long way where all that's concerned.
So Roper is another big partnerof ours as well, as well as
MUSC.
So it takes big and small thepartnerships to happen.
And then Nucor this will betheir 12th year of sponsoring
our golf tournament as well, sothey're a major player in terms
of and Fleet Feet I want to givea big shout out to, because of
(36:38):
the Cocoa Cup that brought in$12,000.
It cost us $10,000 a day to runthe wellness pantry, so they
helped keep it running foranother day as a result of that
$10,000 a day.
Yeah, and that's thinking about.
You know, we've got two bigwalk-in coolers and a walk-in
(36:58):
freezer and the electric billback there alone, but it's all
the costs associated, includingthat we also purchase a certain
amount of food.
So that's been our biggestincrease lately is we're not
seeing more people.
Speaker 1 (37:06):
You're not alone there.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Exactly.
Well, think about that.
So you do grocery bag Sundaysevery month and people still do.
But if you used to, if youthink well, I have fifty dollars
a month to fill this bag.
Fifty dollars doesn't fill thatbag as far as much as it did.
So people are coming in andstill donating, being very
generous, but we're even seeingthat it takes more people
(37:29):
because people are giving alittle bit less, because the
cost is impacting everyone thecost of food.
And what we're seeing is we'renot seeing more people coming
into Echo right now, but thepeople we're helping are coming
in for more help.
So we have a financialassistance program where we
might help you pay your rent oryour mortgage or utility bill,
and sometimes people would comeand say I need this help.
Well, how about food?
(37:49):
Because you qualify oh, no,things aren't that bad, I don't
need free food.
But more and more people aretaking advantage of the food
pantry.
Um, because their dot,everyone's dollars, do not go as
far as they used to, and so thebiggest ways that people be
helping us right now is againfilling up those grocery bags,
dropping off donations and andsending checks that allow us
then to purchase the food andmake sure we get the items that
(38:11):
are most requested and mostneeded through the food pantry.
So what's the most requested?
So great question.
I actually had asked us a fewyears ago.
The most requested think veryregional, so the most popular
grits are always that's on thetop 10 list.
Speaker 3 (38:27):
Go ahead.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
Rice is another big one that people really like so
sometimes I could talk to youabout beans.
That's a whole issue.
Peanut butter is another bigone that people really like, so
sometimes I could talk to youabout beans.
Speaker 1 (38:34):
That's a whole issue.
Speaker 2 (38:35):
Peanut butter is another big one.
So yeah, those good fillingthings, Denny Moore beef stew
flies off the shelves.
Speaker 1 (38:42):
Any kind of beef stew .
Speaker 2 (38:42):
I've actually bought quite a few cans of that myself
to donate Laundry detergent, anysort of toothpaste, deodorant,
shampoo, household cleaningsupply, and the reason for that
is if you have food stamps,which the average family gets
about a hundred dollars worth offood stamps so you know how far
a hundred dollars goes, but youcan't use that to purchase any
kind of non-food items.
So if you have no income comingin now, you have no way to buy
(39:06):
toothpaste.
You have no way to buy alaundry detergent, and a mother
of seven tell me once that whenshe came to Echo and there was
laundry detergent, she thoughtshe hit the lottery and I was
like oh, I feel so a littleembarrassed that I've never been
that excited about being ableto purchase laundry detergent,
so we start asking for it.
Coffee is another thing, highticket items at the grocery
store that people are like, oh,I can't have coffee in the
(39:27):
morning Because again, someone'sgenerous enough to do that.
But lima beans were the mostpopular canned vegetables.
Speaker 1 (39:33):
See, it's the beans Beans.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Yes, that's true.
I was thinking dried beans whenyou said that, and then peaches
were the most, or pineapple wasthe most popular and peaches
was the second Pineapple.
Speaker 1 (39:44):
Really.
Speaker 2 (39:45):
But fresh fruits and vegetables are also very, very
popular and again through Costco, we get a lot of that.
We do a monthly farmer's marketand we like to remind people
whatever you buy for your family, you can donate to us.
So fresh fruits and vegetables,feel free to Well.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
those are also so important for the kids.
Speaker 2 (40:00):
They are Right.
Speaker 1 (40:00):
Because you want to be able.
I mean, feeding children is onething, feeding them healthy and
good for them is so much moreimportant.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Thank you for saying that.
So like if you would buylow-sodium canned vegetables for
your family, we ask that youwould donate that as well, and
that if you buy canned fruitthat's not in high-fructose
syrup, we ask that you would dothat as well.
Speaker 1 (40:23):
That's a really great point and I think that's
something again that I wouldn'thave thought of, right?
And I do the bags all the time,so you know, for our listeners
out there, think about that whenyou're purchasing or even
cleaning out your cupboard.
Whatever you have that you'reable to donate food Hopefully
it's something that you'd wantyour child to eat, Correct,
(40:44):
right, instead of just fillingthis bag with, you know, swedish
fish.
Let's just, you know, let'smake sure it's healthy.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
And quantity is important, but we're a wellness
pantry.
Is what our wellness and that'sintentional that 20% of the
food that we have available tothe families that we're serving
is fresh fruits and vegetables.
It does not mean you have tochoose 20% of it, but what we do
is so.
It's a point system that ourclients use to get a certain
number of points to spend eachmonth.
The fresh items cost lesspoints than the canned items do,
(41:14):
because we're trying toencourage people to take those
fresh items because our clientsare going to go for quantity,
sometimes over quality.
But you know we're servingpeople with gluten allergies and
food sensitivities, and so eventhe soups.
At one time we used to justhave a category called soups and
I said, if you give me cream ofbroccoli and I'm lactose
(41:34):
intolerant what does that do tohealth?
Speaker 3 (41:36):
So?
Speaker 2 (41:37):
now we have broth-based soups and
cream-based soups because again,we want people to get the
things their family will enjoyand that they can eat.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
That's so important.
Speaker 3 (41:45):
Stephanie, what are the hours of operation that
someone can deliver things anddonate?
Speaker 2 (41:52):
So 10 to 4, Monday through Friday is the donations
and then if people are lookingfor help.
It's 10 to 4, monday throughThursday and then Friday by
appointment.
There's a lot of paperwork thatgoes associated with what we do
, so Fridays is the day thestaff gets caught up on all of
that.
Speaker 1 (42:07):
Well, again, if you have not taken a tour, but you
did mention they're going tostop for a little bit that is
correct.
Speaker 2 (42:14):
Make that clear before I tell everybody to go
that's right so, but you couldstill go to our website under
ways to help click on the tourbutton.
We still have tours happeningin this month there are still
two and two that will behappening in march as well and
then you can also follow us onsocial media.
During construction, we'll bedoing lots of updates about
what's happening, showing peoplethe progress, and we're also
looking to get an online virtualtour available through our
(42:36):
website.
Speaker 1 (42:36):
So well, it's going to be fun then, because the next
tours will be your new facilityall right.
So if you can't just hold onuntil they reopen, and then go
see their new place, because youwill be more amazed than it
even is now.
That's right, and reopen fortours.
Speaker 2 (42:52):
That's the big thing.
Please help spread the wordthat we are somehow during
construction.
We are going to continue to runthe medical clinic, the dental
clinic, the food pantry and theclothing closet.
We're still planning on.
Um, that is the fun.
That is my every day right nowfiguring all of that out.
But, um, we love to say wenever closed a single day during
covid.
And we're going to figure outconstruction is just the is just
the COVID we see coming, sowe're going to figure out how to
(43:13):
do it.
Speaker 1 (43:14):
At least you have time to plan.
We are, we're planning.
We did not have time.
It wasn't like that day thatcame to.
You know, the whole world cameto a stop.
That's right?
Speaker 3 (43:21):
Um, well, before we let you go, michael, and.
Speaker 1 (43:23):
I are going to throw some fun questions at you, rapid
you.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
So if you could, have dinner with any historical
figure.
Speaker 1 (43:34):
Who would it be?
Speaker 2 (43:35):
Maya Angelou.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
The author and poet.
Speaker 2 (43:41):
I have read just about every book that she has
published.
I saw her speak in person and Iwould love the chance to just
to be able to speak to her.
She is a person who came fromsome very humble roots, but
always looking forward andlifting her eyes up made sure
that, so I would love to be ableto be inspired by her.
That's wonderful.
Speaker 3 (43:58):
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
Speaker 2 (44:01):
Night owl because I spent 25 years working on
college campuses, but I'm slowlyturning into a morning person
because I have a board thatloves to meet at 8 o'clock in
the morning.
But if I had my choice, I'drather be up all night.
Speaker 3 (44:13):
So this will lead into another one.
I'm going to steal it.
Kathy, coffee or tea.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Tea, iced tea.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
Iced tea.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Iced tea Unsweet With lots of ice With lots of ice,
lots of ice, that's right.
Speaker 1 (44:23):
Do you have a guilty pleasure?
Speaker 2 (44:33):
Like something that you just you know.
So almost embarrassed.
It is almost embarrassed to saythat I am hooked on hallmark
movies.
Um, during the christmas seasonI love a good hallmark movie
and of course they show themyear-round.
Which?
Speaker 1 (44:40):
is fun I was gonna say july, that's true to watch,
and I will tell you why in myjob.
Speaker 2 (44:45):
There's so much everyday problem solving and
uncertainty about things thatcome up that people were helping
have a lot of uncertainty intheir life, but a hallmark movie
starts at eight and by tenthere's a happy ending.
Speaker 3 (44:54):
I enjoy that two hours, every time.
Speaker 2 (44:57):
Every time there's a happy ending, and I love the
predictability.
Speaker 1 (44:59):
I love the big city boy moves to the farm, girl and
you know, and then it snows inthe middle of Georgia or
whatever, and I fall in love andit is a great stress reliever.
Speaker 2 (45:11):
I have a a friend who's like oh, I watch Law Order
.
I'm like that stresses me out.
They're just happy stories.
Speaker 1 (45:17):
I have friends that are addicted to crime shows.
That's what calms them down.
Speaker 2 (45:22):
No, that doesn't calm me down.
Well see, I mean but, and I'mfriends with them, that's a
little scary, right.
And a bag of potato chips whileI'm watching and a glass of
wine are my other two guiltypleasures, Very nice.
Speaker 3 (45:32):
That's awesome.
That's outstanding.
Let's see, one thing we have toask are you sweet or savory?
And we talked about pancakes orwaffles earlier.
So sweet or savory pancakes orwaffles?
Speaker 2 (45:47):
Savory would be my, but again, as you get a little
older, somehow that sweet stuff.
I will not turn down any darkchocolate that comes my way To
go with the wine.
That's right, there you go.
Speaker 1 (45:58):
Well, they make a perfect pair to each other.
I'm going to bother with onemore.
If you weren't doing whatyou're doing now and doing an
amazing job at it, by the way isthere a dream alternate job
that you'd be doing right now?
Speaker 2 (46:12):
I would love to be an events coordinator, and
particularly a wedding planner.
I think would be just great fun.
That's my other thing.
Speaker 1 (46:18):
You want to deal with bridezillas?
You know what?
Oh yeah, really, I would beunfazed by that.
Speaker 2 (46:24):
I'd want to smack them all.
So that's sort of the otherthing, I think.
Or the other part is I'd loveto in Mount Pleasant, I think,
or the other part is I'd love to, in Mount Pleasant, have this
little fabulous gift shop.
I always thought that would bea fun thing to do.
Speaker 1 (46:33):
I'll come work for you.
Speaker 2 (46:34):
Yeah, and wrap people's birthday presents to
give to other people.
Speaker 1 (46:37):
So it's something that feels happy.
Speaker 2 (46:39):
Yes, and what I do at Echo makes me really happy.
This truly is the greatprivilege of my life is running
this organization.
We can tell Stephanie.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
We can tell.
I cannot thank you enough onbehalf of Michael and myself and
Charleston Radio Group and theMount Pleasant Chamber of
Commerce, which, of course,you're also a huge participant
in.
We see you all the time, and sowe hope we're here for you, as
you're here for the community aswell.
Cannot thank you enough foryour time today.
And everyone listen.
You know there's a lot oforganizations that are very
(47:10):
worthy very worthy organizationsin this town and, of course,
echo is just one of them.
So please, you know, take a lookinto it and see if there's
anything that you can donate.
Clean out your closet,something in your pantry,
something in your refrigeratorand, of course, something in
your wallet Anything, anythinghelps.
(47:31):
So, stephanie, thank you sovery much for being here with us
today.
Speaker 2 (47:34):
You know, last week at the chamber meeting, when Jim
Sonfeld spoke and he talkedabout the importance of giving
back in some way.
I hope that's the messageeverybody takes.
It may not be ECHO there's alot of great organizations but
you have plenty to choose fromand if you want to give back to
this community, there's lots ofways to do it.
I hope you'll think of Echo andif not, I'll connect people to
another organization.
Well, we're thinking of Echotoday because you're here with
(47:56):
us.
So thank you.
I appreciate that.
Thank you, which is fantastic.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
Again, thank you so very much for your time.
Before we leave, I'd like tothank again our sponsors.
Charleston Radio Group.
Brian, thank you always forbeing here for us.
If you want to be a sponsor ofour podcast or you'd like to be
a guest on our podcast, you canreach out to one of us at the
chamber.
Make sure and I always make Ihave to read this, because
there's so many ways to get thispodcast.
(48:19):
Be sure to like and subscribeto all of our media channels
Spotify, itunes, youtube,instagram, facebook and LinkedIn
.
Mike Mike.
Mike Compton, who was ourmarketing chair, has got us
covered, got us covered.
So thank you again, all of usfor being here today.
Michael, always a pleasureco-hosting with you.
Speaker 3 (48:39):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (48:40):
Stephanie, we wish you guys the best of luck with
the renovation and we lookforward to seeing you again soon
.
Until next time, Mount Pleasant.
Until next time, listeners.
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