Hunt For The Hungry

[Brandon-K]

HUNT FOR THE HUNGRY:
N.H. FOOD BANK SEEKS DONATIONS OF GAME ANIMALS

CONCORD, N.H. -- New Hampshire's hunters can help the less fortunate by sharing all or part of their fall harvest with the "Hunt for the Hungry" program. Once again this year, the New Hampshire Food Bank, based in Manchester, is collecting donations of whole or processed game animals for distribution to more than 350 food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and group homes statewide.

Last year (2007), the Hunt for the Hungry program took in a record 3,288 pounds of donated deer, bear, moose, duck and other game meat -- almost triple the 1,126 pounds donated by hunters in 2006.

The program offers packaging instructions and can pick up your meat donation. To donate game, call Food Bank Operations Manager Michele Garron at (603) 669-9725.

If you're donating a whole deer or moose, you can bring it to Lemay & Sons Beef in Goffstown, N.H. (603-622-0022), and they will process it for the food bank at no charge.

"We are really counting on support from hunters and backyard farmers this year," said Garron, explaining that times have been particularly challenging for the Food Bank, with warehouse inventory levels continuing to remain critically low. "Limited food donations, coupled with rising fuel costs, have tested our ability to meet the increased need we're seeing in communities across New Hampshire. Donations of protein foods are especially hard to come by - that's a big need that the Hunt for the Hungry program helps fill."

A hunter herself, Garron hopes to be successful in the field this season so she can contribute some venison to the program.

"The Hunt for the Hungry program is a great way for hunters to share their harvest and help needy families get through the winter," said Glenn Normandeau, Executive Director of the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department. "Wild game is a local renewable resource that is high in protein, low in fat and 100% organic - not to mention delicious."

For more information on the New Hampshire Food Bank, visit Welcome to the*New Hampshire Food*Bank.

For information on hunting seasons in New Hampshire or to purchase a hunting license, visit N.H. Fish and Game Department - Welcome.