Special Projects

TEAM Volunteers Collaborate to Spruce up SWFL Vietnam Wall Gardens

Punta Gorda has the good fortune to be the home of The Vietnam Wall of Southwest Florida, located in Veterans Park, 200 Harbor Walk Drive at the entrance to Laishley Park. Honoring our veterans is rewarding to all who help maintain this commemorative park for our community.

The destruction caused by Hurricane Ian in 2022 included the landscaping and gardens surrounding the Vietnam Wall.  Retired Major General Dick Carr, President of the Veterans Wall of Southwest Florida, asked Betsy Spagnolo, a Veterans Park volunteer and Board President of TEAM Punta Gorda, to spearhead volunteer efforts to bring the gardens back to their beautifully manicured condition.  A team effort was accomplished by volunteers from the Punta Gorda Garden Club, Vietnam Veterans of America, and TEAM Punta Gorda. The volunteers worked on two separate days to clean and replant the gardens near the Donor Plaza and East and West ends of the wall.  A huge thank you goes to all who worked so hard to make the gardens pristine.

A fitting tribute to the brave men and women who gave their lives to keep us all safe.  Learn more at https://vietnamwallofsouthwestflorida.org. See all the photographs of volunteers at work below.

Another Great Food Drive – January 12, 2024

TEAM volunteers working with St. Vincent DePaul to gather food items for families in our community.

Successful Food Drive – November 19, 2021

Helping Stock First Macedonia Church Food Pantry!

April 2021 Food Drive

To Stock St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry

TEAM Holds October 2020 “Contact-Less” Food Drive

To Stock St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry

Punta Gorda, FL, Oct 23, 2020 – It was a beautiful day for volunteers from TEAM Punta Gorda to hold a contactless food drive to benefit the food pantry at St. Vincent de Paul in Punta Gorda. Contributions of hygiene products and nonperishable food from residents, neighborhoods and businesses filled 11 large food hampers. These donations will help the local food pantry supply individuals with critically needed food and supplies

The event was chaired by TEAM Punta Gorda Board Vice President Betsy Spagnolo and was staffed by 11 volunteers across two shifts. “We at TEAM support our community and want it to be the best place to live,” Spagnolo said. “Seeing all of the wonderful donations and our volunteers working to collect them makes this a reality.”

This is the second contactless, drive-through food drive TEAM Punta Gorda has held this year. “Given the success of the two events, I think it is likely TEAM will hold additional food drives next year,” said Nancy Johnson, TEAM CEO.

TEAM Punta Gorda is a volunteer-driven organization committed to making the greater Punta Gorda area a great place to live, work, and play. TEAM volunteers focus on a wide variety of projects to enhance our friendly, quaint, historic waterside community.

TEAM volunteers happy to collect & transport donated items to the St. Vincent de Paul Society food bank

TEAM PG Donates to Local Covid-19 Fund

At a ceremony held August 20, TEAM Punta Gorda presented a $3000 check to COAD, a local disaster relief fund sponsored by Charlotte Community Foundation, United Way of Charlotte County, Charlotte County Government Human Services, and the Gulf Coast Partnership. Pictured (from left to right), Sandy Dressler, TEAM Punta Gorda President; Angie Matthiessen, Executive Director, United Way of Charlotte County; Nancy Johnson, TEAM Punta Gorda CEO; Ashley Maher, Executive Director, Charlotte Community Foundation; Angela Hogan, CEO, Gulf Coast Partnership;  Not shown in picture, Carrie Hussey, Human Services Director, Charlotte County Government

Team Holds Successful “Contact-free” Food Drive

(Click on the thumbnails below to see full images and to start slideshow)