‘Wild About Wildlife: A CCFW Youth Experience’ set for Saturday at Cape Coral-Lee County Library
Space is limited for free-to-all-students program; RSVPs are required
A local wildlife conservation non-profit and a high school teen have teamed up to bring an event to Cape Coral aimed at educating youth about wildlife.
The Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife is inviting students from kindergarten through high school to participate in “Wild About Wildlife: A CCFW Youth Experience,” a new educational and hands-on event designed to inspire the next generation of environmental stewards.
This free program, which takes place this Saturday, will introduce students to the natural world of Southwest Florida through interactive activities, science experiments, and creative projects that make learning about wildlife fun and engaging. Participants will explore local plants, animals, and ecosystems while discovering ways to protect and appreciate our region’s environment.
The event is the brainchild of Canterbury High School senior Zoe Malca, who approached CCFW during the summer with a goal of creating an event to pique the interest of her peers when it comes to learning about and engaging with the natural environment of Southwest Florida.
Malca, 17, has been a long-time CCFW volunteer, and is the founder of her own non-profit, “Hoot for Help.” She founded Hoot for Help when she was 14, with the aim to connect young people to wildlife and conservation.
Wild About Wildlife takes place at the Cape Coral – Lee County Library from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., where students will have the opportunity to meet and learn from environmental experts and educators, participate in live science demonstrations and experiments, engaged in hands-on activities focused on conservation and ecology, and discover local wildlife through interactive exhibits.
Space is limited so an RSVP is required.
“Students will be able to explore interactive exhibits about Cape Coral wildlife, including burrowing owls, gopher tortoises, coyotes, and many more,” said CCFW spokesperson Janet Windisch. “Local educators will lead hands-on experiments covering soil, plant and bird identification. There will also be fun, wildlife-focused activities for younger attendees, including face painting, arts and crafts, a treasure hunt and a story corner. Students can learn about the wildlife in Southwest Florida and have fun at the same time.”
Windisch said it was a no-brainer for CCFW to partner with Malca to bring this event to life.
“CCFW embraced the idea because part of our mission is to educate the community about wildlife and we recognize the importance of getting youth involved because they will influence the future of the environment,” she said. “
Exhibitors taking part in Wild About Wildlife include:
• Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife
• Clinic for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (CROW)
• Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center
• Cape Coral Wildlife Trust
• City of Cape Coral Environmental Recreation, offering wildlife demonstrations
• Cape Coral Environmental Services, highlighting native plants
• Cape Coral Garden Club, showcasing their butterfly garden
Special guests include a local high school science teacher leading a plant identification experiment, and Florida Gulf Coast University representatives demonstrating birding and wildlife identification tools.
Malca said her passion for wildlife ignited just before she created Hoot for Help, as she would see a large congregation of neighbors checking out the burrowing owl perches in her neighborhood before leaving for school in the early morning hours. She was drawn to seeing the group connected by this love and appreciation for nature.
One day, development started on the property, and Malca said a lot of individuals, including herself and especially kids, were unaware of the environmental policies in Cape Coral when it comes to displacing the burrowing owl species.
As she delved deeper into the conservation realm, doing research and connecting with CCFW, she wanted to bring more education to the next generation of stewards, or potential stewards.
“When that issue occurred in my community, it was a realization that we need to empower youth more in conservation,” Malca said.
“Through my work with Hoot for Help, I realized that a lot of environmental programs in our area were geared towards adults as I went to more meetings and got more involved with Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife. I wanted to see more youth present in these meetings with environmental organizations.”
From that notion came Wild About Wildlife.
“It’s my way to engage kids in conservation,” Malca said. “I know CCFW does so much valuable work for the environment, and I believe that it’s important to involve youth at a young age so they can appreciate nature. This was a way to bridge the gap between the different ages at CCFW.
“Seeing it all come together makes me very excited to see the growth CCFW can have within the youth community.”
Hoot for Help holds various seminars, and has different club chapters in schools throughout Southwest Florida.
“During our club meetings, we have seminars where we bring in guest speakers about different environmental topics from different organizations,” Malca said. “We also teach our high school members how to present the facts behind different wildlife and different ecosystems that are local here in Southwest Florida, and we go and teach them via presentations to other community groups.”
Hoot for Help also creates bracelets and T-shirts to help raise money to bring their projects to life, and also for the Cape Coral Wildlife Trust which purchases land for preservation in the city. Thus far, Hoot for Help has raised $2,500.
Malca said it’s been extremely rewarding to see Hoot for Help grow.
“We put in a lot of work,” she said. “We communicate with different organizations and plan — when you present at other schools, there’s a process. We have special moments where we interact with kids, and see that they’re genuinely interested and learning about the environment. It makes me feel proud to know our work is actually meaningful.”
Malca has not yet decided on where she will attend college, but knows she wants to major in environmental engineering. Her goal is to be an environmental engineer that focuses on developing sustainable technology that is introduced into daily life to help humans better interact with wildlife.
“I really want to focus on making tangible solutions to the way we interact with wildlife,” she said. “I would love to come back to Southwest Florida, because we have such a great place to learn about nature and just appreciate it. I would also like to continue Hoot for Help wherever I go.”
Her message to youth wanting to get involved?
“Don’t be afraid to reach out to environmental organizations to start projects,” Malca said. “I know a lot of youth that are interested in the environment, but had struggles with connecting because of the audience they usually cater to. Also, never lose the passion for wildlife and the environment. A lot of people have a love for animals and the environment — just make sure you continue to be proactive and ambitious.”
To RSVP, which is required, visit ccfriendsofwildlife.org/events/2025/wild-about-wildlife/.
For more information on Hoot for Help, to make a donation, or for information on wanting to start a chapter at a local high school, visit hootforhelp.org.
To reach CJ HADDAD, please email cjhaddad@breezenewspapers.com