Perfect Time to Donate to Hunters Helping the Hungry

By DAVID RAINER

Now that Alabama’s lengthy white-tailed deer season is only three weeks from ending, many hunters have already taken enough deer to fill their freezers.

That means it would be a perfect time to share nature’s bounty with those less fortunate by participating in the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, which provides a method for hunters to donate thousands of pounds of ground venison to needy families and individuals in the state.

 Since the program’s inception in 1999, more than 400,000 pounds of ground venison have been donated to food banks in the state, and Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) officials expect to surpass the 450,000-pound mark by the end of the 2007-2008 season.

The ground venison makes a significant contribution to the meals distributed to the needy, according to food bank officials.

Helen Walker of Food Bank of Northwest Alabama in Muscle Shoals, which serves 72 pantries in four counties, praised the benefits of the program.

“It’s great, because it’s just like ground beef,” Walker said. “It’s packaged in two-pound packages and wrapped in butcher paper. It’s easy to use. All of our pantries order it. They order it a lot. They’re glad to get it.

“It comes in handy to supplement the other meat we get. We seldom get ground beef. Venison is a great protein source. It doesn’t have any fat, so the elderly can eat it.”

Walker said the problem is the supply is unable to keep up with the demand.

“We get a lot of deer meat during the season, and it goes fast,” she said. “As soon as we get it, it goes right out the door. We’ve been getting it long enough that the pantries know to ask for it.”

Walker said the food kitchens typically prepare spaghetti, chili, meat loaf, stews or patties.

“At this time of the year, we haven’t had any ground beef for a while,” she said. “What we get comes from the USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) once or twice a year. So this really comes in handy. It does fill that gap.”

Walker admits there were more than a few people who were a little leery about consuming venison for the first time, but that reluctance disappeared quickly.

“They learned really quickly to like it and now it’s one of our most popular items,” she said. “Just few weeks ago, one pantry got some deer meat and then issued it without telling anybody what it was.

“One pantry director told me he had a lady that came back and wanted more of that really good ground beef she got last week. The director didn’t say a word, just went in and got her some more venison.”

Parke Hinman, director of the Montgomery Area Food Bank, said the facility received 4,182 pounds in 2007. He said that would supply the meat portion of the meal for more than 15,000 people.

“It has a very positive impact,” Hinman said of Hunters Helping the Hungry. “That venison is a very good meat. Meats are the things that are hardest for us to get. The agencies get it free of charge and it’s very popular.

“To be honest with you, some who haven’t eaten venison are a little hesitant. But we tell them it’s better than hamburger and doesn’t have the fat. They don’t complain after they’ve tried it. It’s a very popular meat.”

Hinman explained that the way food banks distribute food to the needy is through agencies – churches or non-profit organizations.

“The agencies distribute the food in several ways,” he said. “One is through food pantries, where people come at certain times and get the food they need from the pantry. Sometimes the venison goes that way, but the pantries need to have freezers or refrigerators to distribute the venison.

“Then we have on-site feeding. The biggest example is the Salvation Army. The food is prepared and fed to people on site. Churches and other charities also do that type of feeding. A meals on wheels-type operation is the other way the venison gets distributed.”

Hinman said the venison normally comes in two-pound packages, which are very manageable and easily distributed to organizations or families.

“We very much appreciate the department doing that and the processors that handle the meat,” he said. “If it weren’t for the hunters donating the deer and the processors taking care of the meat, we wouldn’t have the venison to distribute to the needy.”

The program, which raises funds through the Governor’s Hunt for Hunger benefit quail hunts, started as a joint project of the Governor’s Office, the National Rifle Association, the Phillip Morris Company, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation.

Hunters who wish to participate in the program should field dress the deer and take it to a participating processor. A list of deer processors is available at http://www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/HelpingHungry/Participating Processors 2007-2008.pdf.  There is no charge to the hunter to donate the venison, although hunters may voluntarily pay processing fees to provide more venison for food banks to distribute. The processors receive $1 per pound from the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation.

“One of the things I’ve noticed this year is the food banks are really struggling to keep food on their shelves,” said M.N. “Corky” Pugh, director of the ADCNR’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division. “Alabama’s hunters are happy to share their harvest with the less fortunate. We’re lucky to have the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, through which they can do that. We’re blessed with a very, very abundant deer resource, and the opportunity for us, as hunters, to take those deer is really phenomenal.

“Venison is incredibly healthy and delicious. The opportunity to share food like that with people who are having problems putting food on their table is really rewarding.”

Barnett Lawley, ADCNR Commissioner, said the Hunters Helping the Hungry program assists in dealing with two problems in Alabama.

“First and foremost, the program provides food for the needy,” Lawley said. “The other is the overpopulation of deer in Alabama. We know hunters can’t always utilize all the meat they take, and we encourage them to harvest does. This is a way to reduce and control the population.

“All you’ve got to do is just leave your field-dressed deer at the processor and they will do the rest. You sign a slip and the processor will send us a bill and we pay it. We’re trying to increase our number of participating processors to make it easier for hunters to drop off the deer. By the end of the season we expect to have distributed between 450,000 and 500,000 pounds of deer meat in the last six years. All the food banks I’ve talked to are very appreciative of the program, and they’ll take all the venison they can get.”

Call (334) 242-3467 for more information or to sign on as a participating processor. Anyone wishing to make a donation to help fund this program may send a check or money order to the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation, P. O. Box 140, Montgomery AL 36101-0140. Hunters Helping the Hungry should be noted on the check.

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