ECHO demand spikes during holiday season

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -Each year the staff of WIS-PAK in North Mankato hold a fundraiser for the holiday season.

This year the fundraiser was a silent auction with items donated by local partners, and this year’s beneficiary was the ECHO Food Shelf.

Wednesday the company donated the $2,500 to ECHO, and said that having a cause that the staff believes in helps push their fundraisers year after year.

“We have 130 employees and I think a lot of people just know of ECHO in our community and they have a good strong feeling towards it and that’s something that we like to help out,” said WIS-PAK’s Emily Hanson.

That donation comes as ECHO is entering the cold winter season, a time they said is historically one of the busiest of the year.

Traditionally the winter months see ECHO serving around 130 households each day.

This year that number is at 148, the highest number the food shelf has ever seen.

“We’re hearing about people losing their jobs, being laid off or not working as many hours as they typically work,” said ECHO’s Deisy De Leon.

ECHO said that the support from volunteers and donations like the one from WIS-PAK go a long way in helping ECHO help those who need it the most.

“It’s just the holidays, it’s a time for families to get together and spend time together but it also does add an additional burden to many of the families that are just having a difficult time,” De Leon said.

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