Green Heart Coastal • Florida Gulf Coast
Protecting the places we love.
Protects the places we love and supports the people who need us — through cleaner waterways, marine wildlife and research support, and practical community outreach.
♻️ Waterway stewardship
🐬 Wildlife support
💚 Community connection outreach
🌴 Florida Gulf Coast
Good people.
Dirty hands.
Cleaner water.
Dirty hands.
Cleaner water.
FIELD-LED • PARTNER-FIRSTBuilt for practical support.
01
Florida Gulf CoastLocal waterways, islands and communities
02
Vessels & logisticsCaptains, equipment, staging and field support
03
StewardshipCleanup, debris and waterway projects
04
CommunityFamily support, outreach and useful connections
Real work.
Counted honestly.
Counted honestly.
♻️
30 lbDebris removed
🔄
0 lbMaterial diverted for reuse
🪽
1Wildlife assists
👥
0Volunteer hours
Documented GHC activity only • reuse weight is added after material is accepted and weighed • partner-led wildlife work is credited to the lead organization
From the waterline
The coast. The people. The work.
See the mission first: cleaner waterways, practical field support, wildlife and research logistics, and community outreach rooted in the Florida Gulf Coast.
🌊 Local waterways
🛟 Hands-on support
📷 Real field moments
✨ Community energy
About Green Heart Coastal
Built to help — and built to stay in our lane.
Green Heart Coastal is a Florida nonprofit centered on practical coastal stewardship, support for authorized marine wildlife and research organizations, and meaningful community and family outreach.
What GHC does
We organize and support cleanup work, provide vessels, captains, personnel, equipment and logistics when appropriate, help connect real needs with useful resources, and build community projects that fit our mission.
Support — not overreach
GHC supports authorized wildlife and research teams with practical resources and logistics. We do not independently conduct regulated rescue, veterinary care or research requiring another organization's permit or authorization.
Formal relationships are identified only when they actually exist.
Three pillars • one mission
Where Green Heart goes to work.
The structure stays simple: protect our waterways, support authorized marine wildlife and research teams, and show up for families and communities when practical help matters.
Coastal & Waterway Stewardship
Marine debris, monofilament, marina and boat-ramp cleanups, and harder debris or derelict-work support that leaves waterways better than we found them.
Marine Wildlife & Research Support
Vessels, captains, personnel, equipment, logistics and field support for authorized organizations conducting wildlife and research work.
GHC does not independently conduct wildlife rescues.Community & Family Support
School and community outreach, practical family support, hospital-focused projects, and the human side of caring for the coast we all share.
The heart behind the work
Why Green Heart exists.
The work comes first. But there is a reason the heart is green — and a little girl whose joy still points the mission forward.
Cleaner waterwaysWildlife support
Community connection
Mission-ready platformsThe heart is personal. The work is practical. Green Heart Coastal leads with real field experience, clear boundaries and useful support — with Harper's story quietly underneath it all.
Latest from the coast
What we're building now.
Real updates, real projects, and the behind-the-scenes work that turns a new nonprofit into a useful one.
Field Notes
Small moments. Real work.
Short, documented notes from the waterline — including stewardship work, wildlife assists, community moments and partner-supported field activity.
Juvenile laughing gull — successful release.
A fisherman accidentally hooked a juvenile laughing gull through the skin of the wing. As the bird attempted to fly away, the fishing line was carefully controlled and the gull was slowly brought across the water until it could be safely secured.
The hook was clipped and removed, the superficial wound was inspected, and the gull was released successfully.
✓Hook removed • superficial injury • bird released
Out here • field gallery
The work, the wildlife, the people behind it.
Browse the story in order — from work on the water to the people and generosity that help move the mission forward.
📷Some images document prior field experience or local conditions and are used as context. Only work specifically labeled as a GHC project represents work completed by Green Heart Coastal. Partner and donor credit stays with the people and organizations who made the work possible.
Waterway Work
Real-world conditions, vessels and shorelines — the places where practical field experience matters.
Swipe to explore →
Wildlife
Marine life and habitat that keep the stewardship side of the mission grounded in what we are protecting.
Swipe to explore →
Community
Outreach is part of the mission too — showing up, making connections and bringing a little good into the day.
Swipe to explore →
Cleanup
Debris is easier to understand when you can see it. The goal is simple: remove what does not belong and leave the place better.
Swipe to explore →
Teams & Partners
GHC is partner-first: support the people doing good work, describe our role accurately, and give credit where it belongs.
Swipe to explore →
Ripple Effect & Donor Stories
The people behind the generosity deserve to be part of the story. This section begins with Jo Ann & Bob Sawyer and the boat that helped start the ripple.
The boat that started the ripple.
Their pontoon begins a new chapter with Green Heart Coastal while carrying forward a life connected to water, animals, service and memories shared together.
Swipe to explore →
Research • conservation • community
Organizations & resources worth knowing.
Green Heart Coastal is built to support authorized organizations, learn from established research, and connect people with credible resources. These links make that network easier to explore.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute
Marine mammal, manatee, right whale and habitat research with a strong Florida conservation focus.
Visit research institute ↗Sarasota Dolphin Research Program
Long-term bottlenose dolphin research, conservation science and field-based population studies in Sarasota Bay and beyond.
Explore SDRP ↗FWC Fish & Wildlife Research Institute
Florida research covering marine mammals, sea turtles, fisheries, habitats, red tide and broader wildlife conservation.
Explore FWRI ↗NOAA Fisheries — Southeast Stranding Response
Official coordination and authorization information for marine mammal and sea turtle stranding response in the Southeast.
NOAA resource ↗Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute
Independent marine science focused on wildlife populations, animal behavior, ocean health and applied conservation research.
Visit HSWRI ↗SeaWorld Rescue & Rehabilitation
Educational information about marine animal rescue, rehabilitation, regulations and conservation work.
Explore rescue resources ↗Friends of Anclote Key
A local volunteer organization supporting Anclote Key State Park, its lighthouse, island ecology and underwater habitats.
Visit Friends of Anclote Key ↗The Liam Foundation
Family support, awareness and research funding focused on mitochondrial disease, including POLG-related disease.
Visit Liam Foundation ↗Florida PPEC Information
Florida's official information on Prescribed Pediatric Extended Care centers for children with medically complex needs.
Florida PPEC resource ↗Resource note: These are mission-relevant organizations and information sources. A listing or support role does not by itself mean a formal partnership or endorsement.
Featured project • commissioning
Ripple Effect
The boat that started the ripple.
With gratitude to Jo Ann & Bob Sawyer
Some boats carry people. Some carry memories. Every once in a while, one carries a story forward.
Ripple Effect begins its next chapter through the generosity of Jo Ann and Bob Sawyer, longtime family friends whose lives have been deeply connected to the water, animals, teaching and service.
Jo Ann spent years helping others become confident around the water through swim instruction and as a dive instructor. Her love for animals also led her to volunteer with Clearwater Marine Aquarium and the Suncoast Primate Sanctuary. Dogs have always been an important part of her life as well, including years spent giving back through the dog and therapy-animal community — a quiet connection to the role Haven now plays in Green Heart Coastal outreach.
Bob and Jo Ann shared a love of fishing, diving, boating and simply spending time together around the water. After Bob passed away, the pontoon remained more than a boat. It carried memories of the life they built side by side.
When Jo Ann chose to give the boat a new chapter with Green Heart Coastal, she gave us more than equipment. She gave us a beginning.
One generous act creates another.
One cleanup inspires another volunteer.
One partnership opens the door to another.
Small acts move outward.
One cleanup inspires another volunteer.
One partnership opens the door to another.
Small acts move outward.
That is the ripple effect. As transfer, evaluation and preparation are completed, the boat is planned to support cleanups, supplies, outreach and partner-support work. We are proud to carry Jo Ann and Bob's story forward every time Ripple Effect leaves the dock.
Planned roleCleanup, outreach & mission support
Current phaseTransfer / evaluation / prep
Operating standardSafe, documented, mission-ready
Story carried forwardJo Ann & Bob Sawyer
Harper is why.
Green Heart does the work.
Magic is what we leave behind.
Website + app
One Green Heart. One update stream.
The website and app are now built around the same content model for impact totals, updates, events and mission resources. The public cloud-sync layer comes next when we choose hosting.
✅Verified impact: public totals and project updates should reflect documented Green Heart Coastal work from launch forward.
Get involved
Be part of what happens next.
Volunteer, share a local problem that needs attention, support a project, provide equipment or services, or help connect Green Heart Coastal with people who can move good work forward.
VolunteerCleanup events, community outreach, logistics and hands-on project support.
Partner or collaborateBring a real need, a useful capability or a mission-aligned opportunity.
Donate / sponsorFormal donation tools are being prepared. Contact us now for project or in-kind support.