Southwest Florida is full of organizations, all of which are seeking additional support as they continue to support those in need through a variety of programs in 2025.

Among them:

Cape Coral Caring Center

Although 2024 proved to be challenging with the economy and a few hurricanes that impacted the area, the Cape Coral Caring Center kept up with the demand.

“We had a much busier year than we have had in a while — 2024 was particularly busy and difficult for us because so many people are dealing with high prices of everything,” said Cape Coral Caring Center Executive Director Julie Ferguson, adding that incomes are not matching the cost of milk and food. “We helped everyone. Thankfully, we never had to turn people away. There were lots of times our pantry was very bare. We managed because we have this commitment — we help people who walk through our door no matter what.”

The center helped, on average, between 300 to 400 families a month, which went up significantly after Hurricane Helene and Milton.

“A lot of our clients were very affected by the hurricanes,” Ferguson said. “A lot of people came in because they lost hours at work, or many people lost their jobs after the hurricane. People were out of their homes for weeks, lost power, and having family living in other areas that had to come and live with them because of situations they were going through. It was really a difficult time for a lot of people. We helped hundreds of people through the hurricane.”

To help with the ongoing demand, she said they are always looking for food donations — perishable and nonperishable.

Cash donations, though, literally provide more bang for the buck.

“Something that is always really important is monetary donations. Every dollar donated to us is worth about $8. Donations large and small are extremely helpful for us. We can turn it into larger donations with our buying power,” Ferguson said. “It’s pretty wonderful that we are able to do that and make little into big.”

In addition to the day-to-day assistance, the Cape Coral Caring Center also helped 1,200 families with holiday meals for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as well as provided Christmas toys for about 250 children.

“We do both because everybody ought to have a nice holiday season,” she said.

Visit capecoralcaringcenter.org .

Cape Coral Animal Shelter

Although the Cape Coral Animal Shelter was down about 50 adoptions for 2024, they still found homes for 950 animals.

“We are not down as much as the rest of the country. A lot of shelters are adopting half of what they normally do,” Cape Coral Animal Shelter Executive Director Liz McCauley said.

The new year has a promising future for the shelter, as it will be breaking ground at the end of February for its new 19,000-square-foot building, which will expand their clinic.

“Our future is extremely exciting,” she said.

McCauley said they serve about 5,000 clients — animals and pet owners — in their clinic.

The Cape Coral Animal Shelter launched its capital campaign in November for a building that will cost $8 million. They have set aside about half. Late 2024, the shelter received $1.5 million from the Golisano Foundation.

“We are asking the community for a lot of help. Every penny counts at this point,” McCauley said.

The shelter has naming rights for the new building.

“It’s a great opportunity to get the community involved in something very important,” she said.

In addition to the campaign, the shelter is asking the community to adopt dogs and cats. McCauley said they have animals for everybody — small to big, young to older for both dogs and cats.

The shelter currently has 86 animals, she said, adding that when they have open kennels, they get more animals.

The Cape Coral Animal Shelter is also moving the needle and making a difference across the entire state of Florida.

“This year we lost the initiative — Operation Fix it Florida, which basically provided partnerships with local veterinarians and veterinarian associations across the state to provide spay and neuter services in underserved areas. There are way too many animals than there are homes for them,” McCauley said.

They are working with legislators to have better legislation and accountability for people breeding animals, overbreeding animals and having resources to get animals fixed.

“Florida is the fourth worst state in the country for euthanizing animals in animal shelters,” she said, adding that the top three are California, Texas, and North Carolina.

“This is totally unacceptable. We need to do better in the state of Florida.”

Visit capecoralanimalshelter.com

Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife

The Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife had a very successful 2024, thanks to its supporters.

The organization had more than 200 volunteers logging more than 9,000 hours of service. The organization also counted 5,098 burrowing owls for this year’s owl census.

Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife Corresponding Secretary Janet Windisch said their sister organization, Cape Coral Wildlife Trust, now owns 79 lots in Cape Coral totaling more than nine acres.

Due to the advocacy of the volunteers, the city received a Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission grant for up to $900,000 to purchase burrowing owl habitat.

The goal for 2025 is to continue to raise funds to purchase land for wildlife habitat in conjunction with Cape Coral Wildlife Trust, as well as expand their starter burrow program to provide homes for owls displaced by development.

Windisch said the community can help the Friends of Wildlife by attending the upcoming Burrowing Owl Festival, set for Saturday, Feb. 22, as well as other events which raise awareness and generate funds for wildlife.

Individuals can also volunteer.

“Our volunteers maintain burrows throughout the city, maintain the butterfly house in Rotary Park, take care of the Purple Martin colony and butterfly garden at Sirenia Vista Park, monitor lots owned by CCWT, and those to be purchased by the city using the FWC grant, organization events and much more,” she said.

Other ways individuals can help the organization going into 2025, is to place a starter burrow in their yard or donate money to help the Cape Coral Friends of Wildlife purchase land as habitat and support its mission.

Tom Allen Butterfly House Curator Cheryl Anderson said the butterfly house at Rotary Park is at its most spectacular with more butterflies now than at any time she can remember in the past 15 years.

“We have 50, or more zebra longwings, the state butterfly of Florida, which was heavily impacted by Hurricane Ian two years ago. They are making an amazing comeback now,” she said. “Over the past two weeks I have released 50 or more and many are still hanging around Rotary Park, as it is an ideal place for them.”

In addition, Anderson said they have given eggs, caterpillars and butterflies to visitors who come to the park who have the right plants in their garden to support the zebra longwing.

“These plants are corkystem passion vine and nectar-bearing flowers like penta, firebush, and jatropha, all of which are in abundance at the park,” she said.

Anderson said the butterfly house also has the malachite, atala, queen and monarch butterflies.

Visit ccfriendsofwildlife.org/wildlife/

There is a plethora of other organizations in Lee County that are seeking the community’s support, so they can further their missions. They include:

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida

Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, in 2024, provided employment to more than 1,200 individuals in their stores, 75% of whom self-identify with a disability or disadvantage.

In addition, Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida has also kept more than 25 million pounds of goods out of the local landfills.

In addition to the stores, Goodwill empowers individuals by teaching them life skills through Pathways to Opportunity; provide workforce development training through the Community Resource Centers; help more than 1,000 low- to moderate-income individuals turn their dreams into a reality through Small Business Development and provide affordable housing for low-income seniors and adults with physical disabilities.

Goodwill Industries is seeking the community’s help through financial gifts, as 93 cents of every dollar goes directly to the mission services.

Visit donorbox.org/giving-tuesday-606.

Sidney & Berne Davis Art Center

The center is seeking donations from the community to continue to connect, inspire and transform the community through the arts.

Donations go towards educational programs, exhibitions and performances and outreach initiatives to make art assessable to all.

Visit sbdac.com/support-2/?mc_cid=db2e91d7ec&mc_eid=0ae3e22ecd.

A.N.A.’s Friends, Inc.

The organization filled more than 2,000 requests during 2024 through its Our Children’s Needs Program, which provides essentials such as beds, clothing, schools supplies and more. The organization serves abused, neglected, and abandoned kids in Southwest Florida.

Visit anasfriends.org.

Community Cooperative

Community Cooperative is asking for the community’s support in donations to ensure that no one is left behind by providing support to those that need it the most.

The organization provides such programs as Meals on Wheels, Mobil Food Pantry, the Community Market, Sam’s Community Cafeé & Kitchen and Social Services & Education.

“Every gift, no matter the size, has a profound impact,” said Community Cooperative Chief Executive Officer Stefanie Ink Edwards in a prepared statement. “Your support helps provide meals, comfort, and stability to those who need it most. Together, we can make sure that the most vulnerable in our community feel seen, cared for, and supported.”

Visit communitycooperative.com.