Issue 15 Stories
Feature

Cultivating an Abundance

From the Global Farm to the fields of Immokalee, ECHO’s partnership with local organization “Cultivate Abundance” has produced an overflow of fresh fruits and vegetables to feed those in need and fulfill those who serve them.

Leeann Estrada
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Weekly donations are gathered for Cultivate Abundance donations. This week, seasonal eggplant and tomatoes were stars of the show.

If you met Rick Burnette in 1994, you would likely have found him working among farm workers on a hillside in Thailand. The time he served there would become a reflection of what he does today: serving farmworkers in southwest Florida while ECHO continues alongside to help him accomplish these goals.

As ECHO network members, Rick and EllenBurnette began an agricultural missions ministry in 1996 in northern Thailand. Later, in 2009, they established the ECHO Asia Regional Impact Center in Chiang Mai, serving there for four years. Upon their return to the United States, they noticed the desperate need for adequate nutrition among the local migrant worker population in Immokalee, Florida which led them to establish CultivateAbundance in 2017. Ellen is the Executive Director while Rick serves as the Program and Technical Director. 

ECHO donates fruit and vegetables each week, helping to provide nutritious, culturally- preferred food for approximately 400 clients each Friday at Misión Peniel, a social justice and advocate group for Immokalee farmworkers. Last year, almost three tons of produce were donated from ECHO for the Immokalee farmworker community. 

Volunteers Chris and Sue process the hand-picked, intern-grown produce that is harvested on the farm. They sort, rinse, and fill crates with each item, bundling certain veggies as necessary, and then load them up in the vehicle for transport to Immokalee.

Cultivate Abundance clients include Haitian, Mexican, and Central American descendants who now reside in Southwest Florida. They gladly receive an array of vegetables like rutabaga, Swiss chard, mustard greens, New Zealand spinach, and fruits like mangos, starfruit, and papaya. Interestingly, certain kinds of leafy greens are preferred by certain people groups because of their use in their traditional cuisines. For example, Haitian clients always ask for more Haitian basket vine because that vegetable is popularly grown and eaten in Haiti. 

So, no matter where you are in the world -be it the Thai highlands or Florida lowlands- there is always a need, and therefore, an opportunity. The Burnettes saw the need and took that opportunity 30 years ago and it has exemplified ECHO’s hope against hunger to this very day. 

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For the past 30 years, John Hanson has brought groups of Indiana students to ECHO’s Florida campus to volunteer mid-summer.
Feature

Cultivating an Abundance

From the Global Farm to the fields of Immokalee, ECHO’s partnership with local organization “Cultivate Abundance” has produced an overflow of fresh fruits and vegetables to feed those in need and fulfill those who serve them.

When the Buffalo Come, You Adapt

A farm in Southeast Asia lost its source of clean water and was able to implement ECHO’s four-barrel water filtration system made by hand.

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When their time in Fort Myers, Florida came to an end, John Yann and Chrissy Mahoney brought their newly acquired knowledge and techniques to Chiang Mai, Thailand where they immersed themselves in a rich culture of people and agriculture for six months.
Feature

First South Sudan Symposium

A dream ten years in the making came true this February. 85 network members serving war-torn South Sudan came together to learn, share, and change lives.