Credit: The Spokesman Review

When a man from Spokane, Washington was told by doctors that he couldn’t fish any longer, he found a way around it. While tying the lines around lures and hooks is difficult for Paul Swanson to do, magnet fishing is far more manageable for the fishing enthusiast. So he started a club: the H20 Magnet Fortunes Club.

Along the Spokane River, Swanson and his friends have pulled free all types of scrap metal—manhole covers, pipes, cameras, cellphones, and even an antique pistol. The group meets every weekend, and since Father’s Day, the group has fished out over 11,000 pounds of metal.

Credit: KXLY

But the H20 Magnet Fortunes Club isn’t just fishing for metal to it throw away again. Instead, Swanson and his team delivered the dumpster to their local recycling facility to turn over a profit. All of the money will be donated to SOAR, a provider for children with autism and other special needs.

“They go around in home and also office therapy for special needs children,” Swanson says. “I have a special needs son that needs their services and they’ve been my angel in the corner.”

While Pacific Steel and Recycling usually accepts prepared iron for $80 per ton, this facility decided to double the payment in order to benefit H20 Magnet Fortunes Club’s cause. As a result, $888 is on its way to SOAR.

But Swanson says the club is far from done. The Spokane River is filled with metal, and the men know they can do far more good for SOAR if they continue searching the river. In the meantime, Swanson has been in contact with the Guinness World Records. If 11,000 pounds of scrap metal sets a world record, it will put H20 Magnet Fortunes Club and their cause on the map.