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| Nancy Johnson |
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A Message from TEAM CEO
Is Not Too Soon to Plan for Fall
It's that time of year again. It's the time of year when many of our volunteers head north! It was a busy and highly productive season and planning is already underway for Fall 2017. As usual, we're all about the partnerships and the volunteers that make our productivity possible.
Pedal and Play in Paradise had 583 riders this year and earned $9,000 profit, the most ever. Not only was a good time had by all, but the money will give a boost to the Isles Yacht Club's Leukemia Cup total, a month-long funding campaign for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. A share of the revenue also funds TEAM Punta Gorda's Bicycle Friendly Communities Initiatives.
In 2017 we plan to lend a hand to our long time great partner, Charlotte Habitat for Humanity by providing the volunteers to build a Habitat house. Called TEAM Builds, excitement is high about this project. The very same tool-guys and gals who built the raised beds for the community gardens, are itching to get their tool belts out to support the community housing effort. TEAM has long been interested in the development of more community housing options. What better way than to show our support with volunteers?
This Fall, this same handy team will be expanding the number of raised beds available in the History Park Community Garden. The project has been a great success and has quite a long waiting list for garden plots. There is still plenty of remaining space inside our garden fence to build more beds and accommodate more gardens. This is a collaborative project with the city of Punta Gorda and the Punta Gorda Historical Society.
Beautify Punta Gorda is the name of the new partnership formed between the Punta Gorda Garden Club and TEAM Punta Gorda. Each year we'll select a public project and work together to improve a public area of the community. Future projects will likely include the remaining gardens at the Veterans Park and the welcome sign areas visible as you enter the City.
The TEAM Punta Gorda's Maritime Committee is busy researching kayak launching facilities and hopes to develop some sites over the coming months.
This year TEAM Punta Gorda will take a short break from June 15th to August 15th as many of our volunteers are not available in the summer. The free yellow bike program will still operate all summer and we'll still be glad to hear from you any time. If you think you'd like to help with any of our projects, or if you'd like to be a chair or co-chair of one of our committees, let us know. We'll be glad to meet with you to discuss the opportunities, large and small.
