“If you give a hungry man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach him how to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.”

What if you had the opportunity to get a fly-casting lesson from one of the world’s top fly-casting instructors?

And what if your “payment” (a suggested donation) for that instruction was used to lift up marginalized populations in MidCoast Maine and beyond?

And what if that donation gave you a tax deduction?

If you think that’s too good to be true, think again.

Macauley Lord, a Brunswick resident, created “Pro Bono Fly-Casting” to tap his expertise in fly-casting and feed his passion for giving.

In 2011, Macauley received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Fly-Casting Instruction from the Board of Governors of Fly Fishers International, the highest honor in the worldwide field of casting instruction. He is the author of the “L.L. Bean Fly-Casting Handbook” (Lyons Press, 207) and has taught at L.L. Bean Fly Fishing Schools since 1986. He trains and certifies Master Fly-Casting instructors around the country. More credentials could be listed, but you get the point: Macauley Lord is at the top of the fly-casting field.

Macauley got the idea for Pro Bono Fly-Casting about four years ago. Here’s how it works. Macauley tells his students in advance that in payment for their lesson (usually about two hours) they will be encouraged to donate to his Fidelity Charitable Donor Advised Fund. As it happens, people love the idea of getting a fine lesson in fly-casting while also donating to worthy causes. Everybody wins.

Macauley directs his Fund to donate to a variety of local charities (e.g. Oasis Free Clinic, Mid Coast Hunger, the Gathering Place, etc.) as well as to some African-American churches in his home state of Kentucky.

One of the biggest beneficiaries is Macauley himself. “We’re just one big village,” he explains, “and I love the joy of giving, of sharing what I have with strangers. In giving we receive. If I can help you, then you help me. It’s very humbling.”

Macauley’s sphere of giving extends far and wide. For example, he funded half of the position for the Rachel Lord Center for Religion and Spiritual Life (basically for the Chaplain) at Bowdoin College. A seminary graduate, he volunteers at the 600-inmate Cumberland County Jail in Portland. He also serves as a chaplain and fly-fishing instructor to an organization that serves retired and active-duty Navy SEALs. And he’s in the process of writing a book that profiles people living on the margins who are drawn to water as to baptism, mostly through fishing (“The Healing Power of Water”).

Macauley Lord’s philosophy can be summed up in a few words. “My mission is to serve humanity.”

During these chaotic and uncertain times, we would all do well to follow Macauley Lord’s shining example — whether we’re learning how to cast a fly or how to live a life.

For further information on Pro Bono Fly-Casting, contact Macauley Lord at 2mlord@comcast.net. David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary and suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns. dtreadw.575@aol.com.

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