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Sep
25
Written by:
ODNR Division of Wildlife
9/25/2009
Local Food Banks Receive Donation from Athens Area Chamber of Commerce
 ATHENS, OH – On the eve of the opening day of Archery season in Ohio, the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce has made a $1000 donation to the Athens area chapter of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH). The donation will receive a one hundred percent match in funds from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife to provide $2,000 of aid to local food banks.
“We know that hunters are committed not only to their sport, but to the concept of giving back to those less fortunate” stated Wendy Jakmas, President of the Athens Area Chamber of Commerce. “On behalf of our members, we are pleased to support that concept, and to support the sportsmen and women who live in and travel to Athens County.”
Monies donated to the FHFH program assist with the processing costs associated with donating venison to a food bank. The 2009 season marks the second year that the Ohio Division of Wildlife has provided a matching grant to the program. Local FHFH coordinator Barbara Rountree has seen a definite difference in the volume of deer donations to the area food banks since grant monies have become available.
“In previous years we would have six or seven deer donated to the program” stated Rountree. “Last year, with the FHFH monies in place, we had 148 deer donated, processed, and delivered to food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the region.” On average, each deer can provide protein for 200 meals.
Hunters who wish to donate their deer to the program can take their deer to a participating meat processor. Participating processors in Athens County include Pleasant Meats and Todd Dowler’s Deer Processing.
Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry began in Maryland in 1997 after founder Rick Wilson encountered a woman along the highway looking for help loading a road-killed deer into her car to feed her children. Inspired to give hunters the opportunity to help feed the hungry, Wilson formed a program that would raise money to pay the butchering bills for hunters that donate deer.
Now over a decade old, FHFH has grown to include 140 local coordinators in 29 different states. Annual meat donation totals have topped 319,000 pounds – enough meat to provide for over 1 million meals – and are expected to increase in the coming years. For more information, visit www.fhfh.org
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