Fishing Friendzy Foundation

Hi my name is Michael Sklad. My wife (Melissa) and I own and operate a Non-Profit organization called Fishing Friendzy Foundation. Our company operates programs that teach kids and families about ethical angling and about respecting our natural environment. 

We wanted to create a way for family, friends and followers to show their support to our cause. This is a way to show your support for a Canadian company that’s dedicated and committed to helping our youth grow to be conservationists.

We started Fishing Friendzy in 2007 by creating a traveling interactive exhibit to bring to fairs and festivals. It was a great way to bring our ethical angling education to different communities as an outreach program to get more families hooked on fishing. We started traveling throughout the USA to state fairs and soon after we started we brought it back home to Canada. In Canada we were honoured to set up at the biggest Canadian Fair the Canadian National Exhibition or the CNE for 7 years where we are so proud to have taught hundreds of thousands of people some of the basics of ethical angling. We have helped over 10,000 people catch their very first fish! 

3 years ago we created our Youth Fishing Leagues to allow kids to join a new exciting educational and competitive program. This is a grass roots community program that we plan to growbigger and bigger each year. The first year we had 2 leagues in 2 communities and this year we had planned for 20 leagues in 8 different communities working with multiple Townships, conservation authorities, businesses and people in those communities. 

Last year we created a new program. Sponsor A Fishing Experience, where we would take out underprivileged kids, people with disabilities and war veterans on the water. Local companies would sponsor a day of fishing with myself and I would take someone deserving for some natural therapy. We showcased these individuals lives and discussed what some of their struggles were they face everyday in hopes it could help others who may be battling the same things.

We want to ask for your support if you believe in what we are doing and if you believe that our programs are making a difference. We have created these program to connect kids and families to nature. We believe that if you have a connection to nature in some way you will naturally want to protect our forests, lakes, rivers or any species that co-inhabit this earth. 

Connecting to nature and spending time outdoors has been proven to reduce stress, anxiety, and for kids it’s been proven to help them focus longer and more intently in the classroom when spending consistent time outdoors.

We are teaching kids to respect the environment and become life long conservationists. These kids will be the next leaders of our world and we want to do our best to mentor them and guide them towards being protectors for animals, forests and clean water. 

We need your help to get through this year. We’d love to know you value what we do and want to see more. Please feel free to send us a message of hope or share an outdoor memory of your family!

www.fishingfriendzy.com 

Thank you. 

Peace, Love and Fishing! 

Owner - Michael Sklad