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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Angler commits to fishing for 3,500 consecutive minutes to benefit homeless kids in Spokane County

Avid outdoorsman Ryan Rowe  is going to fish for 3,500 consecutive minutes, 1 minute for each homeless child in Spokane County. The fundraising effort, which will benefit Family Promise of Spokane, will start Friday at 6:59 a.m. (Jenn Alberts / Courtesy)

It sounds like a good excuse to go fishing.

But it’s more than that.

Avid outdoorsman Ryan Rowe is going to fish for 3,500 consecutive minutes, 1 minute for each homeless child in Spokane County.

The fundraising effort, which will benefit Family Promise of Spokane, will start Friday at 6:59 a.m.

“Just being miserable out here in the cold and knowing the stories of these homeless families, it just kind of clicked,” Rowe said. “I think people can relate to this. Ryan is out here miserable in the cold, let’s bring Ryan home and let’s bring these homeless families home.”

Rowe is a photographer and videographer. He also happens to be friends with Steve Allen, the executive director of Family Promise. Over the years, Rowe has done video and photo work for the nonprofit Family Promise, which is dedicated to helping homeless families find housing.

The stories and experiences of homeless children and families touched him, he said.

That’s where things started to click. Although an experienced angler, Rowe was new to fly fishing for Tiger Muskies on Silver Lake. In September, he decided to live stream his learning process.

His first time out he got lucky and caught a nice musky. More people than he expected watched his livestream and commented.

“People comment and they communicate with me,” he said. “And really what I’ve found is I’m catching people.”

Since then, he hasn’t had any more luck catching muskies, but he’s spent a lot of time in his pontoon-style float tube.

That’s where the idea of raising money for homeless children developed. He knew that Family Promise was moving into a new building and he wanted to help.

“I was just sitting out on my boat and I was just thinking, ‘I’m really good at sitting here. I wonder if there is some way I can help?’ ” he said.

Combine that with his livestreaming and he realized he had a potential fundraising audience.

Rowe is asking people to donate $10 (or more) for every minute he’s on the water. All donations will go to Family Promise.

He’s raised more than $7,000. On Tuesday night, he went night fishing to test all of his gear for Friday.

“The ball is rolling,” he said. “We’re really excited.”