DES MOINES, Iowa — Crusaders for a Cause held a magnet fishing charity event Saturday at Riverwood Park in Des Moines to raise awareness for the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“The whole point of this event is to bring awareness, acceptance to the deaf and hard of hearing community and bridge the communication barrier that is out there because the deaf community is often, in a way, forgotten about,” said Jared O’Rear, the organizer of the event and face behind the Flying Arrow Magnetics YouTube channel.

O’Rear said he has personal ties to the deaf and hard of hearing community.

“I grew up in a deaf home. My mother was deaf. So I’m what they call a CODA, which means a child of a deaf adult. And then I became deaf myself in 2013 after I had a work accident that took my hearing,” O’Rear said.

At the event, people learned how to magnet fish, doing some good for the rivers in the process.

“It’s all about cleaning the environment and leaving it for future generations to be able to have a place that’s clean and it helps our waterways. I do a lot of magnet fishing off of the Des Moines River, and I’ve pulled out mobile things like ATMs, training, grenades, guns, all sorts stuff,” O’Rear said.

Crusaders for a Cause is donating all the money raised from selling scrap metal collected during the event to Iowa Association of the Deaf.