Venison donation program fights food insecurity, prepares for rifle season
Meat processors in Butler County are preparing to distribute thousands of pounds of venison to food banks and community kitchens as hunters donate their harvest.
Processors participating in Hunters Sharing the Harvest, a statewide venison donation program, submitted record-high donations during the 2024-25 hunting season. It received 283,789 pounds of venison harvested from 7,855 deer, providing about 1.1 million servings. The organization said one deer can provide up to 200 servings.
The venison was donated to families around the state facing food insecurity, including families in Butler County.
“I didn’t realize the need for food in Butler County,” said Steve Loder, an Ellwood City resident who volunteered with the program for years.
During his time with the program, Loder donated to food distribution organizations such as the Pittsburgh Food Bank and The Lighthouse Foundation. He said he’s only seen food insecurity grow.
The program, which began in 1991, relies on local partnerships between hunters and deer processors for donations. Seven processors in Butler County participate, according to the program’s website.
Dan McKruit, the owner of McKruit Meat Packing in Winfield Township, said most of the deer donated to them is packaged into 1- and 2-pound packages of ground venison.
“That seems to be what the food banks want,” McKruit said.
He explained deer processors must pass a basic inspection before they can accept donations for the program. When a hunter has a an animal to donate, they begin by presenting it to management at the processor and filling out a tag to ensure it was taken legally.
The processed meat goes to Tom Rossman, the program’s western district coordinator, who decides to what sources the meat is donated. He has donated the meat to both larger food banks and small community kitchens, such as Katie’s Kitchen in Butler. The kitchen can then serve it or cut it with beef to extend their meat supply.
Rossman said he’s already distributed hundreds of pounds of venison through archery season. Bob’s Deer Processing in Prospect also collected about 200 pounds of venison for donation through rifle season.
Deer can be donated for the program year-round, but most of the venison will be collected for distribution around the second week in December, further into rifle hunting season, Rossman said.
At the end of the season, the processors send their collected tags from donated animals into the program’s board of directors and are sent a partial reimbursement for processing fees.
McKruit said he averages a ton of deer meat processed for the program each year.
Other participating processors in Butler County include Bims Boloney in Washington Township, Ciafre Deer Processing in Middlesex Township, Huff’s Deer Processing in Connoquenessing Township, Schuler’s Butcher Shop in Summit Township and Welter’s Meat Shop in Donegal Township.
Many states have their own version of Hunters Sharing the Harvest. The National Rifle Association, which is celebrating November as National Wild Game Meat Donation Month, said programs of a similar nature began popping up in the early 1990s.
