Bloomingdale Walmart Welcomes Team TRIDENT

A routine shopping trip at the local Walmart store can become an exercise in confusion for the intellectually disabled.

So, when the at 949 Bloomingdale Ave., Brandon, awarded the Team TRIDENT a $250 community grant, director Tom Denham III decided to go shopping with 15 members of his team.

Based at the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center in Brandon, Team TRIDENT is a new program that serves adults and school-aged children with intellectual disabilities. Denham, Hillsborough County's former director of Special Olympics, heads the program.

TRIDENT is an acronym for “Training and Recreation for the Intellectually Disabled Enhancing Natural Talents." It is designed to create an active recreation environment for the participants and features two hours per day of classroom time that focuses on training independent life skills, which is not taught by any other local program. 

It's a program that's near and dear to the heart of Bloomingdale Walmart manager Peter Peck.

"My wife and I are caregivers to a relative with Down syndrome," said Peck. "There's no greater love than the love you get from these kids. They do everything from the heart. So, being able to help Team TRIDENT is really rewarding for me and my store associates."

Armed with a shopping list, the Team TRIDENT members gathered at Walmart determined to buy as much as possible for their program while staying on budget.

The major item on their shopping list was a microwave oven, to be used to teach the members how to prepare their own food.

"We're teaching them to cook and clean up after themselves," explained Denham.

Denham used the opportunity to teach the Team TRIDENT members how to choose the best microwave for the money.

"Here's one for $55 and another for $59," said Denham told the group. "This one is $4 less. With what we saved, we can get some potato chips."

After agreeing on a microwave oven, the group set out to find a toaster oven based on the same criteria. Denham had them figure out the cost difference between products before they chose one that fit their needs and budget. They were delighted to find one for just $24.

Then the group was off on a scavenger hunt, searching for other items designed to help them with life skills, including fake money so they can learn how to use the real thing, dishes and pots and pans.

The group also had a secondary mission. They wanted to purchase items for a party for member Justin Lasota’s 38th birthday. They scoured the store, searching for birthday cards, paper plates, utensils, hot dog buns, hot dogs, potato chips and party supplies.

"These adults have just been great to work with," said Team TRIDENT instructor Candy Corsi, who was on hand for the shopping trip. "Eight have Down syndrome and the rest have mental handicaps. All of them are wonderful, I just love my job."

She explained that the shopping trip was right in line with their daily lessons.

“We work daily on cash transactions, counting change and basic budgeting," she said. "We decided a field trip to Walmart would be a perfect way to integrate what we teach in the classroom with a real-world example. Our team members planned what supplies to purchase and how to divide the budget, and everyone was looking forward to thanking the staff at the Bloomingdale Avenue location for their support in person."

Team TRIDENT member Theresa Brandies said she loves coming to the Brandon Sports and Aquatic Center every day.

"I just love Tom," she said. "He's the best."

Since the program began Sept. 19, the team has had a washer and dryer donated so they can learn to do their own laundry. On their wish list is a full-size oven.

“We are extremely grateful to Peter Peck, Walmart and the team at the Bloomingdale location for their support of this phenomenal program,” said Chuck Burgess, BSAC executive director. “Having companies like Walmart investing in making a difference in the lives of those with intellectual disabilities shows both the value and the need in the community for BSAC’s Team TRIDENT program.”

Denham said the program fills a great need in the community.

“When you have an intellectually disabled child, there are a ton of services available to that child,” Denham said. “But once they turn 22, the number of services available to those individuals are few and far between.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about Team TRIDENT can contact Denham at 813-545-4368 or via e-mail at tdenham@mybsac.org.