MANKATO, Minn. – Last Wednesday the Gustavus women’s basketball team participated in the inaugural Women’s Basketball Coaches Association Day of Service by volunteering at Mankato’s Emergency Community Help Organization (ECHO) Food Shelf. Student-athletes and the Gustavus coaching staff sorted food, cleaned a large walk-in freezer, and stocked shelves.
ECHO provides emergency food assistance to people in Blue Earth County and North Mankato. ECHO began in 1981 in a church basement and was intended for short term food assistance to people in the Mankato area. ECHO has relocated several times to larger facilities to accommodate the growing need for food assistance. ECHO serves approximately 1,620 households and distributes 103,000 pounds of food on a monthly basis. ECHO has been a client choice food shelf since May 2010. This allows its clients to choose their own grocery items instead of receiving a standard food package.
The WBCA Day of Service called on women’s basketball programs to engage in an act of service with their communities. The initiative was a way for teams to get out in the community, but also raise awareness of women’s basketball.
