The nation's largest single-day food drive delivered at least 60,000 pounds of food to ECHO's Riverview building on May 9, well short of the nonprofit's 80,000-pound goal for the year.

The shortfall comes as ECHO, the Emergency Care Help Organization, is on pace to serve 34,000 neighbors in fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30. That's up from roughly 30,000 the prior year, a 13% jump that development manager Steven McKinnon attributed to relentless cost pressures across Eastern Hillsborough County.

"Food prices, housing prices, gas prices, fuel and energy bills, you name it, continue to rise, making for an extremely tough year," McKinnon told the Observer News.

ECHO operates resource centers in Brandon and Riverview that provide emergency food and clothing, back-to-work services and housing assistance to residents of Apollo Beach, Ruskin and surrounding communities. The nonprofit has served families in crisis since 1987.

For the May 9 Stamp Out Hunger drive, organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers and the U.S. Postal Service, ECHO coordinated volunteers at eight postal stations including Ruskin/Apollo Beach, Gibsonton, Sun City Center and Riverview, according to the Observer News. Workers sorted and stored donations at the Riverview resource center at 10509 Riverview Drive and at the Brandon location.

The 60,000-pound figure, reported by Fox 13 Tampa Bay on May 14, may represent a partial count from the Riverview site rather than a combined total across all ECHO locations. In 2025, the drive brought in 69,021 pounds for ECHO's pantry, according to the organization.

McKinnon said community support is the one bright spot in an otherwise difficult year, noting that federal funding cuts have deepened the strain on food assistance programs. Nationally, more than 47 million Americans face food insecurity, including 14 million children and 7.4 million seniors, according to NALC. The May timing helps restock pantries as summer approaches and school meal programs go on break.

Vinnie Sombrotto, whose father Vincent R. Sombrotto co-founded the drive as NALC president, said letter carriers still see the effort as core to their mission. The elder Sombrotto, a carrier at Grand Central Station in New York City, helped launch the nationwide program in 1993.

ECHO fell at least 20,000 pounds short of its goal. Residents who want to help close the gap year-round can call 813-540-9880 or visit www.echofl.org to volunteer or donate.