Community Outreach, Car Show, and Concert Welcomes 500

Five thousand fliers, forty car and bike show participants, live music and a number of booths helped draw over 500 community members to the 7th Annual Community Outreach held Saturday at Fleming Park. Seven years ago Echos of Love Ministry's Head Pastor Conrad Valdez met with his church's board to brainstorm ways to take their ministry out of their building and into the community in an interactive way. This year's event coordinator, Johnny De La Rosa's son came up with the idea of a car show and the vision grew from there. The first year Echos of Love sent a letter to every church in Colton, encouraging them to participate and over the seven years, the number of participating local ministries has multiplied by ten. "We wanted to create an environment where people who might not normally attend church can come and feel God's love," said event coordinator De La Rosa, who has lived in Colton his entire life and has been involved with Echos of Love Ministries for over 10 years. The event offered participants from all walks of life food, clothing, school supplies, toys, bikes, participation in drawings, water, and much more. "Everything is free because the price has already been paid by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ over 2,000 years ago," said De La Rosa. The event was made possible through donations from both private entities and local ministries. Some of those who helped pull together to make the event possible include C1 and C2 Starbucks who donated iced coffee for the event, O'Reilly Auto Parts who donated a number of items, Kohl's Associates in Action who donated many items as well, among others. Attending students received backpacks full of back to school items. “We want to feed and clothe the homeless,” said Pastor Terry from Lifeline Street Ministries, an organization which provides bags of groceries for the members of the community. While the event did touch a number of lifes dealing with homelessness, people from all walks of life attended and benefited from the community-wide effort. Kathy Manzo, the director of Bethel Christian Fellowship in Fontana said, “Bethel would like to serve the community and provide clothes to those that are less fortunate.” Her booth passed out clothes and shoes to the community members in need. Some other booths included Molina Healthcare, Southern California Gas Company, Auto Club, and a cancer awareness booth, along with many others all offering free information and resources to attendees. Entertainment was provided by Brian Bent of the Pioneers from San Juan Capistrano and Panchuco Jose and His Jubilee Train from LA, who both donated their time at the event. The Colton Fire Department brought out one of their trucks for the kids to learn about, giving out badges and helmets to those in attendance. Those who brought the event together are already looking forward to the 8th annual event.