The FFA has spent 11 years delivering a highly celebrated, custom-designed fishing education and life skills program to over 18,508 Palm Beach County elementary, middle and high school students. At its heart, the Angling For a Healthy Future curriculum is an environmental awareness initiative that teaches children - tomorrow's boaters, anglers and environmental stewards - to enjoy Florida's fragile marine resources in a way that preserves the ecosystem for generations to come. The program also arms these kids with the tools and knowledge to resist the temptations of the streets and to gain a richer appreciation for our local waters. Some even use what we teach them to pursue jobs in the marine industries. To date, FFA has helped over 320 students find jobs and certified 152 students as American Red Cross lifeguards. In 2017 alone, the FFA had 3,750 students of all ages participate in its camps and weekend events.

This year, FFA was able to complete building a fun, interactive public-messaging Mobile Marine Lab. With this new hands-on educational program, students explore a working model of Florida's watershed, the effects of pollution and beach erosion and how it relates to the marine-life food chain. They have the opportunity to hold various marine critters in a touch tank, and participate in an oil spill clean-up activity. These activities will explore the importance of water quality, conservation and a healthy marine environment.

Website: floridafishingacademy.com

It's all about introducing kids to fishing and our marine environment! Since 1988, the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation, along with the assistance of volunteers and important community partners like the Marine Industries Association of Palm Beach County has conducted an annual Kid's Fishing Day Program. Each year, hundreds of less fortunate, at-risk and special needs children from throughout Palm Beach County experience what most of us take for granted, a day of boating and fishing on the ocean. It takes three days and 12 separate drift boat trips to get all the kids on the water. More importantly, because of this program's strong educational component, the kids learn all about our marine environment and why we need to protect it. This is accomplished through a variety of hands-on educational stations based on land, which includes the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission's Marine Touch Tank.

To date, over 10,000 special kids have participated in this heartwarming community outreach event. The program is free of charge to those who participate and is made possible each year through the generosity of many sponsors and volunteers. Each child receives an event t-shirt, lunch, drinks, dessert, and an official certificate of participation. If that wasn't enough, every kid goes home with a brand new fishing rod and reel. 'Big fish' awards are presented to those lucky enough to catch the largest fish on each drift boat trip. Of course, each child walks away with special memories of a fun day on the water and a better understanding of our unique marine environment. For many, this ocean adventure is a first time experience. Seeing flying fish, sea turtles and large oceanic predators like sharks is a thrill not soon forgotten! We believe programs like our Kid's Fishing Day help build better citizens and environmental stewards for the future.

Marine Education Initiative is a 501c3 organization focused on using the sport of fishing as a mechanism to immerse and educate socio-economically disadvantaged children about their local marine and/or freshwater environments; while also working with fishing tournaments to collect and clean already caught fish to be served at soup kitchens to minimize any potential waste and provide a nutritious meal.
The Marine Education Initiative uses the sport of fishing to keep the children engaged, but emphasizes proper ways to fish and the need to adhere to local regulations to preserve fish stocks for the future. Since 2007, their programs have run in Boca Raton, FL/ Miami, FL/ Durham, NC/Nassau, Bahamas/Abaco, Bahamas and on the island of St. Martin. The Marine Education Initiative has taught over 1,200 children in South Florida, provided over 2,300 hot meals of fresh fish to Boca Helping Hands Soup Kitchen, and has utilized 600 youth and adult volunteers their many community efforts. The Marine Education Initiative has also been the recipient of multiple national accolades including the 2010 USA Weekend National Make a Difference Day Award. You can learn more by going here.

The Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation (PBCFF) is the charitable affiliate of the 83-year-old West Palm Beach Fishing Club (WPBFC). The mission of the PBCFF is to fill a community need by developing and producing marine education, conservation and historic preservation programs that will have a lasting and beneficial impact on the youth, marine resources and history of Palm Beach County. To accomplish its mission the PBCFF produces a variety of local initiatives including Kids Fishing Days, Rods & Reels for Kids, annual scholarships at area high schools and universities, and numerous marine habitat enhancement projects. The PBCFF has achieved many significant conservation and educational milestones since its inception.

The West Palm Beach Fishing Club annually produces one of the largest and most popular "KDW style" tournaments in South Florida. The event is called the Palm Beach County KDW Classic and is headquartered at the Riviera Beach Municipal Marina each year on the first Saturday following the Memorial Day holiday weekend. This one-day tournament is fun, affordable and very family oriented. There are cash payouts eight places deep for the heaviest kingfish, dolphin and wahoo, plus ten cash prizes for junior anglers! There are plenty of other ways to win and the event also features a huge raffle.Tournament proceeds support the marine conservation and youth education initiatives of the non-profit West Palm Beach Fishing Club and the Palm Beach County Fishing Foundation. kdwclassic.com.

Sailing has a long tradition of providing character building life experiences to young people in a fun and safe outdoor environment.

The Youth Sailing Foundation of the Palm Beaches was created to build a sustainable sailing infrastructure working with existing sailing and youth programs in our community.

Since 2015 they have acquired equipment to supplement the youth sailing program at Palm Beach Sailing Club including 14 dinghies (C420s and FJs) for high school and college sailing, a trailer to transport Opti dinghies to regattas across the state, and a Hobie Wave for recreational sailing. They provide financial assistance to allow young sailors to participate in race team and summer programs. They also coordinate several lagoon cleanup efforts to make a direct impact in the community and provide sailors with exposure to environmental issues.

You can follow them on Facebook and Instagram @ YSFPB, and contact Tom Homberger at tom@ysfpb.org to find out how you can help support youth sailing in Palm Beach County.

Website: ysfpb.org