A season for giving
A season for giving
“Hunters Sharing the Harvest” program helps feed the hungry
By Tyler Frantz
As we prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday, complete with a bountiful feast, few families give much thought to those who aren’t so lucky. The fact of the matter is, however, more than 1.8-million Pennsylvanians remain classified as food insecure, with many requiring the assistance of local food pantries to help supply their next meal.
But deer hunters across the Keystone state have answered the call to help fight hunger by joining forces with “Hunters Sharing the Harvest,” a non-profit organization that takes donated deer meat and turns it into lean, ground venison burger for those in need.
Last season, Pennsylvania sportsmen donated over 2,400 deer, equating to nearly 100,000 pounds of venison, despite a significant 15-percent decrease in the overall 2014 statewide deer harvest. The fact that the program still almost reached its annual donation goal, even with much lower harvest numbers, is telling of PA hunters’ loyalty to the HSH mission.
“Thanks to hunter generosity and certified butcher participation, the 97,000 pounds of donated venison is now providing about 450,000 meals to hungry Pennsylvanians,” said HSH Director, John Plowman. “One hunter-donated deer yields up to 200 meals of ground burger, which is more adaptable for a wide range of uses and recipes than all other cuts.” “Shelters or needy families themselves can use the ground meat to make everything from meatloaf to spaghetti sauce. Ground venison is a versatile, high-protein, low-fat and nutritious food that is, in many cases, the only red meat available to some struggling families facing food insecurity,” Plowman said.
Since 1991, HSH has processed hunter-donated deer into ground venison via official HSH inspected meat processors. The meat is then packaged and distributed statewide by food banks to over 4,000 local soup kitchens, pantries, missions and needy families. In 2013, over 87,000 pounds of donated venison was delivered to 20 regional food banks throughout the state.
The jump in donations from 2013 to 2014 is likely a result of a new donor incentive unveiled last season. For many years, HSH had asked hunters to make a deposit of $15 toward butchers’ processing fees when donating a deer. But HSH has now eliminated that fee, instead using corporate and personal sponsorship funds to pay deer processors in full at a standard agreed-upon rate when accepted into the HSH program.
“We know it’s been a concern to ask the hunter to pay a deposit when dropping off a deer to be donated,” said Plowman. “The co-pay was necessary when sufficient funds to reimburse butchers were unpredictable in past years.”
“Thanks to major gifts by the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Consol Energy and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, along with exceptional yearly support of many statewide major corporate sponsors, partners, sportsmen’s clubs and thousands of individuals, the registered nonprofit’s funding base has stabilized sufficiently for the HSH board of directors to take this action.”
Now, hunters simply have to deliver their deer to any HSH approved processor, and complete the short 3-part donation form. The processor will then process the deer for the food bank program and be reimbursed for contracted services by HSH after the season.
“The generosity of these sponsors has eliminated the need for the hunter deposit, although most hunters contributed the deposit willingly,” Plowman said. “An updated list of HSH partners and supporters is available on our website, www.sharedeer.org, as well as links to all components of the program.” To make donating an extra deer easy, the HSH website also maintains updated contact listings of all participating processors by county, along with local volunteer coordinators who are there to help, plus a toll-free telephone (1-866-474-2141) to access the same information.
Ongoing needs for HSH within Pennsylvania include attracting new sponsorship and partner support to further defray processing costs, and continuing to build the network of meat processors, local coordinators and media contacts in underserved counties.
Currently, HSH has no meaningful or effective outreach infrastructure in Warren, McKean, Potter, Forest, Venango, Elk, Clarion, Cameron, Jefferson, Clinton, Mifflin, Juniata, Snyder and Northumberland/Montour Counties. HSH would like to feed the hungry families in those areas too. Please help by volunteering or contacting HSH at 717-545-1188 or jwp@sharedeer.org.
All Pennsylvanians, whether they hunt or not, can appreciate the importance of having access to adequate, healthy food supplies for their families. This holiday season, hunters and non-hunters alike are urged to donate tax-deductible financial contributions to the HSH program to help meet deer processing costs.
And as a successful deer hunter, if you find yourself with a little extra venison to spare this season, please consider sharing some of your harvest with those in need. The 1.8-million hungry citizens in our state will be grateful to accept it.
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