SIKESTON, Mo. – Once again this year, Missouri’s Share the Harvest program will allow deer hunters to donate venison to families and individuals facing hunger in their communities.
“Protein is one of our most-requested items, but it is also one of the most expensive and difficult to source,” said Joey Keys, chief executive officer of Southeast Missouri Food Bank. “The Share the Harvest program is a great way for local hunters to give back to their communities and avoid waste.”
Share the Harvest is administered by the Conservation Federation of Missouri and the Missouri Department of Conservation, and processing costs of the donated meat is covered by the program.
To participate in the program, a hunter just needs to take a deer to an approved meat processor and let them know how much venison you want to donate. (According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, deer harvested within the CWD Management Zone must be tested; more details are available at https://mdc.mo.gov/hunting…/species/deer/share-harvest.)
In SEMO Food Bank’s service area, the approved meat processors are: Elderland Meats in Zalma, Jackson Frozen Foods in Jackson, Ole Bandit LLC in Wappapello, Ozark Meats in Grandin, Walker’s Meat Processing in Fredericktown, Stonie’s Sausage Shop in Perryville, Oberle Meats in Ste. Genevieve and Piedmont Processing in Piedmont.
Once a deer has been donated and processed, the meat will be distributed to one of the food bank’s partner agencies to be distributed to families and individuals facing hunger. In 2022, more than 2,500 pounds were donated to SEMO Food Bank through Share the Harvest.
Southeast Missouri Food Bank serves 80,000 individuals each month through a network of 140 partner agencies and other programs. The food bank’s 16-county service area has some of the highest rates of hunger in the state, where one in six families and one in five children are food insecure.
About Southeast Missouri Food Bank
The mission of Southeast Missouri Food Bank is to end hunger and leverage the power of food to build healthy communities.
The food bank provides food to 140 charitable and disaster relief programs in Southeast Missouri. These member agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, domestic violence and homeless shelters.
Southeast Missouri Food Bank also holds regular mobile food distributions and provides monthly boxes of food to 5,575 senior citizens and weekend backpacks of food during the school year to nearly 1,200 students in 30 school districts.
The food bank’s 16-county coverage area includes Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Perry, Reynolds, Ripley, Scott, Ste. Genevieve, Stoddard and Wayne counties. Those interested in helping can do so by making a tax-deductible contribution, donating food, or scheduling a time to volunteer. Visit www.semofoodbank.org for more information.