Hunters Helping the Hungry

Share the Harvest Sunday is November 1

A Letter from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources

It is a pleasure to share with you a letter from the DNR Director, Frank Jezioro regarding the 2009 Share the Harvest – Hunters Helping the Hungry campaign. Again this year we hope that many churches will distribute the information or even take up an offering about Share the Harvest Sunday provides the opportunity to support this effort by making a donation for the butchering and packaging costs for feeding those in need in West Virginia as well as provide a safe way to share the annual deer harvest.

Thank you for your support

Dennis Sparks

Executive Director

West Virginia Council of Churches

October 1, 2009

Dear Church Participant:

Once again, the Mountaineer Food Bank, the Huntington Area Food Bank and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) are asking for your help and the help of your church members to support a program that feeds many hungry West Virginians.

Members of the West Virginia Council of Churches and the DNR have united in a cooperative effort to insure that needy West Virginia families have access to high quality meat.  For many West Virginia food banks, shelters, or needy families this is one of the most difficult foods to obtain.  The Hunters Helping the Hungry Program does just that by providing nutritious, low fat, low cholesterol ground venison which can be prepared or used in many ways.

Hunters Helping the Hungry is a unique program involving the Wildlife Resources Section (WRS) of the DNR, hunters and generous donors, and the Mountaineer Food Bank and the Huntington Area Food Bank.  These two food banks are the only West Virginia certified members of Feeding America, a national network committed to feeding the hungry.

Hunters deliver donated deer to West Virginia Department of Agriculture- and/or U. S. Department of Agriculture-certified and inspected meat processors where it is turned into two pound packages of ground venison.  These packages are picked-up and distributed statewide by the Mountaineer and Huntington Area Food Banks. The food banks deliver the meat to approved church pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and needy families throughout West Virginia.

Since it’s inception in 1992, Hunters Helping the Hungry has provided 694,231 pounds of venison, for over 925,000 meals at a total cost of $866,073.71.  Processing costs are $1.30 per pound, with the average deer producing 35.5 pounds of ground venison.  The food banks are paid 14 cents per pound to cover pick-up and distribution costs.  WRS manages, coordinates and publicizes Hunters Helping the Hungry without charge.  However, it is not allowed to spend license fees on food processing and distribution costs. 

This is where the West Virginia Council of Churches enters the scene.  WRS requires financial assistance to manage a charitable program this large.  Past donors to Hunters Helping the Hungry have included hunting and angling organizations, businesses, individuals and churches.  However as the donations of deer grow, so does the need for financial assistance.

When presented with the Hunters Helping the Hungry concept and need for assistance, the members of the West Virginia Council of Churches voted unanimously to support Hunters Helping the Hungry through the establishment of Share the Harvest Sunday.  Sunday, November 1, has been designated as the day in 2009 when each individual member of each participating church will be asked to donate one dollar, five dollars, or whatever they can afford to Hunters Helping the Hungry.