Pa. hunters asked to donate venison to help the hungry

ENOLA, Pa. — Hunters can help feed more than 1.5 million Pennsylvanians by donating deer meat through Hunters Sharing the Harvest.

Hunters Sharing the Harvest helps hunters donate deer that is then processed into ground venison and distributed by Pennsylvania food banks, soup kitchens and pantries.

How it works

Hunters can take their deer to one of 90 participating meat processors throughout the state and donate any amount of their venison to the program — from several pounds to the whole animal.

Any hunter donating an entire deer is asked to make a minimum $15 tax-deductible contribution to help cover processing costs. The program covers all remaining fees.

The Department of Agriculture, through the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program, contributes $1.25 per pound of donated venison to reimburse processors.

Buy a cap

This year CONSOL Energy will donate $1 to the program for each limited edition camouflage baseball cap sold through the end of hunting season. Caps may be ordered at www.consolhuntershat.com. CONSOL Energy is also underwriting the processing costs for donated deer at approved meat processors in Allegheny, Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.

Established in 1991, Hunters Sharing the Harvest today covers 53 participating counties and provides more than 750,000 meals annually to food banks, churches and social service feeding programs.

Last year, hunters donated nearly 100,000 pounds of venison to more than 4,000 emergency food assistance agencies through the state’s 21 regional food banks. To obtain a list of participating meat processors, visit www.sharedeer.org, or call 866-474-2141.