For Immediate Release

Famed Echo Park Summer Festival: The Bronx Celebrates!
Saturday, August 9th, Noon to 6 PM

What: The much-anticipated outdoor summer festival, celebrating “Drug Free and Proud To Be Day” is enjoyed by several thousand Bronx residents. Thrown by Mount Hope Housing Co., Inc., the annual summer festival will feature free food – hotdogs, hamburgers and sodas – and carnival rides, live music, dancers, a DJ and singers, performances by local youth groups and the Mount Hope Basketball Tournament. There will be a youth essay contest (“Drug Free and Proud To Be”).

Kids will also be thoroughly entertained with a petting zoo, horse and pony rides, face painting and more. All activities are free, and all are invited to attend.

Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion, Council Member Maria Baez, Assemblymen Jose Rivera, Luis Diaz and Michael Benjamin, sponsors of this year’s festivities, will be there. Other supporters include corporate, healthcare and local sponsors.

The 7th annual Mount Hope Housing Co. celebration began in 1997 with the hope of replacing the drug blight of Echo Park with a positive, youth-oriented neighborhood presence. It has become one of Mount Hope’s central celebrations.

When: Saturday, August 9th, noon to 6PM.

Where: Echo Park (Julius Richman Park), on Valentine between Burnside and East Tremont in the Bronx.

About Mount Hope Housing Company:
A community development organization, Mount Hope Housing Company, Inc. was founded in 1986 in response to the deterioration of the Mount Hope community of the Bronx. Providing affordable housing as its foundation, Mt. Hope empowers the community through a comprehensive range of programs including robust youth services; employment and job training services; real estate development; and financial literacy and family asset-building programs.

MEDIA INVITED. PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES!

Contact:
Lynn Honeysett (914.576.7747; cell: 914.548.9652)
W. “Tee” Lawton, Mt. Hope Housing Co. (718.299.2051, Ext. 16;
cell: 917 904 8024)