MILLERSBURG, Pa. — As hunters prepare for the upcoming rifle season, one nonprofit is urging people donate deer meat.
On Thursday—organizers with Hunters Sharing the Harvest kicked off their 2023-24 collection season in Millersburg, Dauphin County. The organization allows hunters to donate some of their game to help feed families in need.
“Those hunters can now donate their deer and perform what we consider to be a social service," said Randy Ferguson, executive director for Hunters Sharing the Harvest. "It’s very heartwarming for us to know that we’re going to be able to feed more Pennsylvanians through this generosity.”
According to the organization, one deer creates about 200 servings of venison.
Pennsylvania hunters donated 6,201 deer to Hunters Sharing the Harvest in 2022-23. That equates to about 1.25 million servings of venison donated to food banks across the Commonwealth.
“[Food banks] are sometimes hard-pressed to find good protein sources being donated into their programs," said Ferguson. "Venison is considered a very, very protein-dense, nutritious source of meat.”
Bryan Burhans, the executive director for the PA Game Commission, said the program not only allows hunters to feed families in need, but also helps them control the deer population.
“It gives them the opportunity to take additional deer, if they have the tags available, to provide to those local communities with good, nutritious food," said Burhans.
As hunters take to their tree stands, they have a chance to help families as the holiday season approaches.
“For people to be able to donate deer like that and help their fellow man, that is tremendous," said Ferguson.
You can find out how to donate venison by going to the Hunters Sharing the Harvest website.