Man Takes Kids Without Fathers On Fishing Excursions

November 24, 2021

A Florida man is taking kids without father figures on fishing trips through his nonprofit Take a Kid Fishing Inc.

Take A Kid Fishing Inc.

William Dunn had a rough childhood growing up in Miami.

His father ran a lobster business, so he was raised on a boat. For Dunn, fishing was an escape.

"I knew how special it was when my dad took me," Dunn said. "Just being out on the water is like being out on another world. I can't explain it."

As an adult, Dunn suddenly felt a calling to help others.

"I worked in a lot of bars as a bouncer, I got shot, struck by lightning, bit by a rattlesnake, and divorced," he said.

"I just decided that it was time for me to change my life around, start helping others, and living right."

One day, Dunn asked his neighbor if he could take her unruly child fishing.

"He was very destructive, breaking stuff, very angry... found out his dad was not in his life whatsoever. I just started taking him fishing on the weekends," Dunn said.

Suddenly, Dunn started to see a positive change in the boy.

He started doing better in school, showing more respect to his mom, and "just becoming more of a man of the household because his dad was still not in his life," Dunn said.

After seeing the changes, Dunn said it became his "life calling to help other kids that are fatherless."

Take A Kid Fishing Inc.

Since 2005, through his organization Take A Kid Fishing, Dunn has given over 1,500 underprivileged kids the opportunity to learn how to fish, and ultimately, discover the joy of the outdoors.

"A lot of them have never been on the water before, never held a fishing rod, never caught a fish, and it blesses me every day that I can wake up every morning at 54 years old and be able to take these kids out and show them life experience and show them that somebody loves them," Dunn said.