A sustainable fishing group founded by a Duke freshman has an opportunity to win $10,000 through an online competition.
Fishing for Families in Need—founded in 2008 by freshman Lucas Metropulos—teaches underprivileged children to fish responsibly and works with fishing competitions to donate surplus fish to soup kitchens. The project was announced Feb. 9 as one of nine finalists for USA Weekend Magazine’s Make a Difference Day All-Star award. The winner of an online vote will be selected for the award.
Metropulos’ organization, which is currently centered in his hometown of Boca Raton, Fla., is in the process of expanding to other locations including Durham, Martha’s Vineyard and New Orleans.
“We don’t just teach kids how to fish, we teach them to fish responsibly,” Metropulos said.
Some of the goals of the program are to provide positive mentorship to students, make students aware of conservation efforts and teach children a new skill with potentially nutritious benefits, among other objectives, according to Fishing for Families in Need’s website.
The teaching segment of Metropulos’s initiative involves eight weeks of after-school sessions—learning the basics of rods, reels and tackleboxes—culminating in a field trip to a pier to put the children’s newfound skills to use. The course not only teaches kids a way to have fun, Metropulos said, but also life skills in catching fresh, nutritious food and being responsible stewards of sea life.
“People have sustained themselves with fishing for centuries—there’s no reason you can’t continue do it if you do it right,” Metropulos said. “I wanted the kids to see the creatures that are in the ocean and know why it is important to protect them.”
Originally prompted by a trip to the Bahamas where he donated fish to locals, Metropulos began the organization in his hometown and taught others leadership skills so that they could establish similar charities elsewhere. At Duke, he is in the process of working with Big Brothers Big Sisters to establish the program in Durham.
Metropulos hopes that an emphasis on responsibility and sustainability will allow future generations of children the opportunity to fish. He focuses not just on the technical skills of fishing but also how to prevent overfishing and minimize harm to fish populations.
Sustainability, in a different way, has struck the people Metropulos has worked with as one of his key assets. Jennifer Ahern-Dodson, Mellon lecturing fellow and instructor in the Thompson Writing Program, taught Metropulos in her Writing 20 class “Who Cares and Why?” and worked with him as he brought Fishing for Families in Need to Durham.
“Throughout the course, what we study is what makes people want to do good,” Ahern-Dodson said. “Part of what we talk about is how to take your passion and call on others to share your passion and keep your energy going beyond your tenure.”
In order to bring his passion—responsible fishing—to Duke students, Metropulos had to organize his classmates and persuade them that their community needs their help, Ahern-Dodson said.
“The best civic engagement involves building relationships, solidarity and sustainability,” she said. “Lucas asked himself, ‘How can I best connect to the needs of Durham?’ He connected with a variety of groups in Durham, listened to them and helped what they were already doing.”
Metropulos partnered with the Ronald McDonald House of Durham. Last Fall, he and several fellow students collaborated with the organization to take a group of three families staying at the house on a fishing trip to Durham’s Lake Michie. said Jessica Maynard, volunteer coordinator at the Ronald McDonald House. Maynard said the trip went a long way toward easing the families’ burdens of having a loved one in the hospital.
“We were very enthusiastic about arranging the trip because I’m always looking for diversions for the families to get what they’re going through off their minds,” Maynard said.
Should Metropulos win the Make a Difference Day competition, he will donate half of the $10,000 grant to the Ronald McDonald House and half to the Florence Fuller Child Development Center in Boca Raton, where he first began his fishing classes. Online voting for the competition runs from Feb. 15 to 29.
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