Not any more for Virginia Delegates Tag Greason (R-32) and Tom Rust (R-86). They took several hours out of a busy schedule July 15 for lunch with CEO Bill Haney and the staff, and a tour of the facility on Lawson Road. 

“Many of us don’t know the extent of services provided here,” said Rust, a 10-year veteran of the House of Delegates in Richmond. “This visit was very informative. I love that this is here, and it is probably underutilized.” 

Rust expressed some surprise when he learned that ECHO serves western Fairfax as well as Loudoun. He said he would use his newfound appreciation of ECHO simply to raise awareness among his colleagues in Richmond. 

Greason, in the second year of his first two-year term in the General Assembly,  said he arrived “knowing very little and now I know a great deal. I think there is an opportunity to help get some doors open here, to get some local companies to expand their workforce [with a team from ECHO]. More people and more positions, that’s what I’m going to work on.”

Greason jotted notes during the visit and will work with Karen Russell and Karen McCarthy to get the message out to more local companies that can benefit from ECHO services. 

Greason elaborated that his guiding principle as an elected representative is that “government should be involved in a limited number of core functions and do those core functions very well – education, defense, infrastructure are certainly on the list. We don’t expect each of us to go out and build roads.” 

Do that well, Greason said, and there will be resources available for his second guiding principle: “We should be there to help those who can’t help themselves.”ECHO,  he said, clearly falls into that category.

 By Shannon Sollinger

Starting in 2006, the Greenway has donated every penny collected the third Thursday in May at its toll booths to five local charities and to its own scholarship

program. On May 19, 2011 that came to $235,354.87 – a whopping $10,000 more than the record setting (then) $226,246 collected in 2010.

Only the support of the entire community has made this fund raising such a spectacular success, said Terry Hoffman, the Greenway’s manger of customer and public relations. “That makes it possible for us to give this amount of money.”

The other four beneficiaries of the Greenway’s generosity are Loudoun Abused Women’s Shelter, Fresh Air/Full Care, Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy and the March of Dimes.

ECHO buses are such a common sight on the Greenway, said Greenway CEO Thomas Sines, that he gets inquiries about the “Greenway Connector Buses.” He dubs the small fleet “Bill’s Greenway Bus Service.”

Less than three weeks after collecting the tolls, Greenway management invited the recipients to a lunch at Clyde’s Willow Creek Farm in Ashburn and handed over the checks. Hoffman noted that the Greenway had turned to ECHO’s document removal and disposal service earlier this year when they had to clear out several storage buildings on short notice.

By Shannon Sollinger

Roll, baby, roll! A huge thank you to Leesburg Target for allowing their employees to volunteer for ECHO…and wow, doing it with a smile!

If you’ve noticed the bright, freshly painted walls at  ECHO’s administrative building on Lawson Road, thank the United Way Day of Caring and a team of volunteers from Target. Megan Johnson, executive team leader of human resources at Target, was looking around last summer for a way to “reach out to our community, to make a difference.” She called United Way who put her in touch with CEO Bill Haney, and the rest is history. Haney and the ECHO staff met Megan and eight volunteers at the front door Aug. 23 with rollers, brushes and paint and work started. In half a day, the Target team painted the main hallway, two lunch rooms, two bathrooms and an office. We anticipated every need so no time was wasted,” Haney said. “We had drop cloths, ladders, paint, tape and rollers.” The day started with a “get to know” meeting, Haney said, so ECHO could use its volunteers’ skills in the best way. Don’t like ladders or walls?

Leesburg Target employees and Bill Haney, ECHO’s CEO, enjoying a moment after volunteering their time at ECHO. Thanks to all who participated!

No problem – the parking lot needs striping. Haney said he will happily give a similar opportunity to other groups. “And if a group wants to help ECHO but doesn’t take to painting, I can match them with some other project. I can always find a suitable project.” Every year, Johnson said, Target designates a month to ask its employees and staff for donations to their community. This was their first trip to ECHO and it “was a great experience, very rewarding,” Johnson said. Sterling resident Debbie Romanovitz, produce team leader, said she had been looking for an opportunity to volunteer, but out of the store. “It was fun, doing things together,” she said. By Shannon Sollinger for ECHO