Editor's note: Many
people and organizations gave their energy, time and
money to assist Punta Gorda and those affected by
Hurricane Charley. We want to give them all a
heartfelt thank you! The following story is
about one such group... a group of people, helping
people.
Shortly after Hurricane Charley
left town, help quickly began to arrive: power
trucks, emergency response teams, the Red Cross,
clean up crews, donations of food, water and ice.
People from the city, the state and the entire
country were coming to lend a hand.
Charley's Angels
Feature Story:
Charley's Angels
Definition of an angel: A kind
and incredible person, one who
manifests goodness and selflessness.
Ron Scalzo,
Gabe Bove and Brian Stock are the
three partners that make up the
development team of Vivante, a new
residential community at 2950 West
Marion Avenue, just west of Ponce
Park.
Ron Scalzo was
quick to see a need and with his
partners, they set out to fill it.
Being without water, electricity and
for many times even without a roof,
people needed hot food and a place
to eat as well as somewhere they
could sit down out of the sun and
get a moment of needed rest.
The day after
the hurricane, the three Vivante
partners put their heads together
and came up with a plan of action.
Brian Stock called on his two
executive chefs: Chef Dan Kniola of
The Club at Olde Cypress in Naples
and Chef John Hanek of the Grandezza
in Estero to coordinate the food.
Initially two medium size
tents were brought in along
with tables, chairs, two
grills, smokers, a
refrigerated trailer, paper
goods, port-a-johns,
generators, and
air-conditioners.. But,
after a couple of days, it
became obvious that more
accommodations
were required so a
substantially larger tent
was erected and
air-condition was added to
bring relief from the day’s
unrelenting heat. The
Vivante sales offices were
transformed into a multi-use
center. Prior to air
conditioning the tent, the
building (powered by
generators) provided a
needed respite from the heat
for the elderly. During the
day the offices served as a
center of operations, while
at night they provided a
place for law enforcement
officers to get some sleep
on air mattresses. The
building also came in handy
as a place to store all the
paper goods and supplies
required to provide three
meals a day, every day.
The vacant land
surrounding the sales office
provided a place for relief workers
to park their cars at night and feel
safe while catching a few hours of
sleep.
Flyers were
passed out to let people know about
the free meals being served, but it
was largely by word of month that
people learned of it. On the first
day, food was served all day long;
over 700 hot dogs and 800 hamburgers
were consumed.
Chef Dan and Chef John
After the second day, Chefs
Dan and John began upping
their food order as they
quickly realized there was a
need for “good” hot food and
not merely hamburgers on a
bun. Each day thereafter,
coffee would be started at
5:30am followed soon by
breakfast with items such as
Danishes and muffins, fresh
fruit, eggs, meat and juice.
Breakfast was made available
till about 10am. Then
freshly grilled meats,
marinated salads and a wide
variety of other items would
replace the breakfast
selections. Anyone was
welcomed to enjoy a good hot
breakfast, lunch and/or
dinner at the Vivante’s tent
everyday until about 8pm.
The two
executive chefs needed to
put together a meal plan
that could feed thousands
each day. Chef Dan and Chef
John contacted their main
food purveyor, US Foods to
arrange for supplies.
Initially, the large trucks
could make it only as far as
Port Charlotte and from
there the two chefs made
arrangements for the
supplies to be brought in on
pickup trucks and small
trailers. US Foods sold the
food to them for cost and
the president of US Foods
even sought donations for
the hurricane relief from
many of their own company’s
food suppliers.
A three sink
dishwashing area was set up outside,
which met all the requirements of
the Agriculture and Health
Departments.
Amazingly, Chef Dan and John both
managed to keep the kitchens at
their respective restaurants running
smoothly while managing this huge,
spur-of-the-moment “catering” job.
Chef Dan said this endeavor was a
massive effort and would not have
been possible without the many
volunteers who selflessly provided
hundreds of hours of work.
Each day on his way home, Chef Dan
would stop in Bonita Springs to
refill the 12 empty gas tanks that
were used to fire up the grills.
Often times gas patrons would
approach inquiring why he was buying
so much gas and upon learning the
answer, some would insist on paying
part of the bill.
Chef John also commented on how people
(both residents and relief workers
alike) would come up to him and really
thanked him from their hearts. He
noted that not only were people
being offered hot food, but also
a place to feel that they
were not alone.
Ron Scalzo
noticed a difference in the demeanor
of the people from the first week to
the second week. The first week, the
residents came in with their eyes
downcast, their shoulders slumped
with little conversation. After all,
many were in shock, hot, tired and
hungry, not really knowing where or
what to do. But soon, people who
came in for a meal, would sit and
talk with each other sharing their
experiences.
It wasn't
long before many people
offered to volunteer in any
way they could help; whether it
be cooking, serving food,
carrying cases of water or
simply providing a friendly
smile and someone to talk
with. Two such volunteers
were Kathy Bostwick and Pat
Moore. These two women
discovered not only that
they were neighbors on
Washington Loop Road, but
also that they shared
several mutual interests.
Both Pat and Kathy agreed
this relief effort provided
a sense of order; something
reliable people could count
on, a sense of community,
somebody to talk to, a
chance to cool off and
Pat Moore and Kathy Bostwick
enjoy some delicious food. Pat and her husband
were due to celebrate their
40th anniversary
with their children on Boca
Grande, but Charley had
other plans for them. Pat
said her family will
postpone the anniversary
celebration until early next
year.
Many people
offered to volunteer in any way they
could, whether it be cooking,
serving food, carrying cases of
water or simply providing a friendly
smile and someone to talk with. Two
such volunteers were Kathy Bostwick
and Pat Moore. These two women
discovered not only that they were
neighbors on Washington Loop Road,
but also that they shared several
mutual interests.
In an operation of this size many
cooks were needed. A fellow by the
name of Bill who was a cook in the
service quickly offered his
services. Another invaluable
volunteer was Ricky who is a
entertainer from Los Angeles. He
became an ever constant cheerleader,
keeping everyone’s spirits up.
Blaine Spivey
Gabe Bove
Emily Spivey and Ron Scalzo
One of the key personnel
responsible for making all
this happen was Blaine
Spivey, head of security
with Stock Community
Services. Blaine’s many,
many hours at the site and
his attention to detail
assured everything stayed on
course. He gathered over a
100 names of families that
required tarps on their
roofs and forwarded them on
to theArmy Corp of
Engineers.
To celebrate the success of
the operation and in order
to bring everyone together
for one last time, a “block
party” was held on Sunday,
August 29. Entertainment and
unending food were served up
to the hundreds who
attended. It was a wonderful
finale to all the time and
hard work devoted to the
people of Punta Gorda by
Ron, Gabe, Brian, the Chefs
and the many wonderful
volunteers. In the final
ceremonies one volunteer,
Emily Spivey, was awarded a
plaque thanking her for
donating over 110 hours of
volunteer work to the
project.
While there are many “Angels” in our
community, we thought it was
appropriate to give a special thank you to The Vivante Group for going miles beyond the call to
duty. They spent their time and a great deal of
their own money in providing countless neighbors
with help when they needed it most.
Vivante at
Punta Gorda
2950 West
Marion Avenue, Punta Gorda, FL 33950
(941) 833-8999
www.vivante-fl.com
Pictured in
the Front Page photos, from left to right
are: (top photo) Adam Klayman, Claudine
Wetzel, Gabe Bove, Barry Eisenberg, (bottom
photo) Ron Scalzo, Alexa Scalzo, Brittany
Scalzo, Liz Scalzo
