In the Thursday, Nov. 30, edition of the Butler Eagle, we learned about a program that lets hunters share the game they harvest as a way to fight hunger statewide.

The Pennsylvania Hunters Sharing the Harvest program is more than 30 years old, and has donated more than 2 million pounds of venison to people in need.

As of Monday, there are six days remaining in rifle deer season, meaning there will be plenty of deer harvested in the coming days. There are also many, many people facing food insecurity, especially with the end of additional Supplemental Nutrition Assistant Payments that came during the pandemic.

Zane Slater, co-owner of Bims Boloney in Washington Township, said hunters had given nearly 200 deer as of the end of November. With each average size deer having enough meat to make about 200 meals, that means as many as 40,000 meals could come from just that number.

The Hunters Sharing the Harvest program is a nonprofit founded in 1991 dedicated to giving hunters a chance to show compassion for those in need by donating whole deer they’ve harvested. It’s one of a number of such programs nationwide, including Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry and the National Rifle Association’s Hunters for the Hungry.

The programs work in similar ways. Hunters take their harvested deer to a participating processing facility, and the processed meat gets sent to food banks and other charities to be distributed.

In the case of Hunters Sharing the Harvest, there are about 5,000 participating charities and they distribute about 100,000 pounds of meat each hunting season.

People can also give money to the organizations, which is used to pay for the meat processing and other costs.

According to the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program’s website, sharedeer.org, local meat processors that participate in the program also include Bob’s Deer Processing in Muddy Creek Township, McKruit’s Custom Meat Cutting in Winfield Township, Shuler's Butcher Shop in Summit Township, T.A. Giger Deer Processing in Middlesex Township and Welters Meat Shop in Donegal Township.

The site also has ways to make monetary donations.

In a season dedicated to giving, donating a harvested deer is a way for hunters to give the gift of food to those in need throughout the community.

— JK