Hunters charity looking for donations to cover freezer repair
The local chapter of a statewide nonprofit is asking the community to help it out in turn.
Since 1991, Hunters Sharing the Harvest has distributed millions of pounds of deer meat to food-insecure families throughout Pennsylvania through local food providers.
Now, the local chapter of HSH is asking for the public to give back to them in a small way by making monetary donations to cover the costs of repairs recently made to a freezer used to store venison.
Since 2015, the Butler County chapter of HSH has used an outdoor walk-in freezer located on the premises of Trinity Lutheran Church on Sunset Drive in Center Township to preserve donated venison before it is ready for distribution to food providers. The venison is collected from local deer hunters who have donated any spare and unneeded deer meat from hunting season.
“What we do is collect venison from hunters who want to donate it to charity,” said Tom Rossman, area coordinator for HSH. “We pay for the processing and then, when it's processed, it’s donated to food cupboards and different charities around the state.”
The construction of the freezer was made possible with a donation of $17,000 by XTO Energy in 2015. Last year, the freezer’s mechanical system underwent a major reconstruction which cost $6,500 — paid for entirely by the church.
“Fortunately, since I'm a member there, and they've been very supportive of our program, they paid the bill,” Rossman said. “It’s outdoors and it runs 24/7 so things wear out.”
Hunters Sharing the Harvest is now looking to raise $10,000 to not only repay the money to the church, but also set up a “maintenance fund” with $3,500 in reserve to cover the costs of future repairs. The church would serve as the custodian of the maintenance fund.
“I would like to reimburse them for paying that bill and then I’d like to set up a maintenance account, which they will manage for us in case we have any other issues,” Rossman said. “In fact, since we’ve had it rebuilt, we’ve already had one problem with it.”
Any contributions made to Hunters Sharing the Harvest for this or any other purpose are tax-deductible, as the organization is a 501(c)3 charity. Checks should be made out to Trinity Lutheran Church with a note reading “HSH Freezer.”
