Passport to Texas

Hunters for the Hungry helps feed Texans

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Feeding Texas is a non-profit association that represents food banks in the state. Hunters for the Hungry is one of the programs it oversees.

The way it works is, we recruit meat processors to help us get venison out to the families that we serve. For hunters it’s an opportunity to donate back to their communities. And, for our food banks, it’s an opportunity to have access to a really great lean source of protein that the families that we serve really need.

Celia Cole is CEO of Feeding Texas. She says Hunters for the Hungry enjoys enthusiastic hunter participation among deer hunters. Yet, Cole says they need more processors.

Our greatest challenge is bringing in enough processors. So, in all of the areas where there is a lot of hunting, we are in need of more processors. And that is the key to making this program work.

Cole says it’s easy for processors to sign up.

We have our website and processors can go there to sign up. Really, all they need to do is enroll with us and show a copy of their inspection and be willing to package the meat in the packaging that we provide. So, it’s fairly simple for a processor to register and become involved in the program.

Tomorrow: how Hunters for the Hungry benefits processors, hunters, and the community.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Hunger in Texas is real, and the problem is growing.

SB 1978 Will Help Feed Hungry Texans Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Last legislative session, SB1978 passed into law, which is good news for hungry Texans. Justin Halvorsen, Parks and Wildlife Revenue director explains.

SB 1978 is a legislatively mandated bill that mandates that Parks and Wildlife allow a hunter to opt-in to donate to the Feeding Texas nonprofit, when they purchase a hunting license. And that money would go to that nonprofit, and to their program Hunters for the Hungry.

Halvorsen and Feeding Texas are working out the details of the program, including how much hunters may donate.

This would be at the time of purchase at the very end of the transaction. Either online or through any of our license agents—they will ask would you like to make a donation. It’s almost like when you check out at the super market and they ask if you want to chip in a couple of bucks.

Currently hunters pay a fee to processors when they donate an animal. Processors grind, package and then distribute the meat to local hunger relief agencies. Celia Cole is Executive Director at Feeding Texas.

And right now, typically, when a hunter donates a deer, they pay up to $40 to cover the processing. So, we hope ultimately we’ll have enough revenue to be able to offset some of those costs, which also, I think, will increase the donations.

Last year Texas hunters donated more than 100,000 pounds of healthy, lean venison to Hunters for the Hungry. Learn how to help at feedingtexas.org.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Feeding Texans by Sharing the Harvest Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hunters in Texas harvested close to 600,000 deer, and donated more than 100,000 pounds of venison to Hunters for the Hungry last season.

This comes to us at a very low cost. We estimate it costs only about a dollar per pound to process and distribute this meat throughout our network.

Hunters for the Hungry is a program of Feeding Texas—a statewide association that represents Texas food banks. Celia Cole is the non-profit’s CEO.

We estimate, since its inception two decades ago, that hunters have donated over two-million pounds of meat to feed hungry Texans.

Hunters pay a modest fee to drop off legally harvested, tagged and field dressed animals at participating processors. Processors grind and package the meat and distribute it to local feeding programs.

We’d like to see more hunters and processors involved everywhere. Obviously hunting is more prevalent in certain areas of the state than in others. So, we’re focusing on those areas where there are lots of opportunities.

Help get healthy protein to deserving Texans.

If listeners want to learn more about the program…if they want to find out how to sign up as a processor, find out how to donate, they can come to our website feedingtexas.org. Increasing the number of processors around the state who are enrolled in the program is the key to us being able to grow it in the way that we want to.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Hunters for the Hungry helps feed Texans

Hunters for the Hungry Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Imagine if you didn’t know whether you could feed your family. One in five Texas families don’t have to imagine.

We know that it [hunger] affects children, seniors, people who are chronically unemployed, temporarily unemployed… It’s a really extensive problem that’s affecting every corner of our state.

Celia Cole is the CEO of Feeding Texas—a statewide association that represents Texas’ food banks. Its program, Hunters for the Hungry, allows hunters to donate deer to feed hungry Texans.

It’s a great opportunity for hunters to give back to their communities. It also helps landowners manage their deer population. So, it’s a program that promotes environmental stewardship, at the same time it brings in a badly needed source of protein for the hungry families that we serve.

Hunters donate legally tagged and field-dressed white-tailed or mule deer at participating meat processors.

They contribute a small fee to cover the processing cost. That meal is then processed and distributed to the hunger relief agencies that we serve in that area.

Hunting licenses come with five deer tags. Perhaps earmark one for Hunters for the Hungry, and help provide healthy venison to Texans in need.

We are hopeful that potentially we’ll have hunters going out and doing more hunting, because they know that they now the opportunity to donate in this way.

Find donation details at passporttotexas.org.

The Wildlife Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

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Copy and paste the  following link into your browser for details about donating a deer to Hunters for the Hungry:

http://www.feedingtexas.org/get-involved/hunt/

Hungry Child by George Hodan

Hunger in Texas and How Hunters can Help Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Food insecurity in Texas is more common than you might think.

It, unfortunately, leaves no county untouched. We know that about one in five families struggle to afford food on a consistent basis.

Celia Cole is the CEO of Feeding Texas (http://www.feedingtexas.org/)—a statewide association that represents Texas’ 21 food banks. The food banks distribute food via its 3-thousand partner agencies

And we support that work and represent them in public policy decisions.

Donations from grocery store chains and the public allow Feeding Texas to provide food to hungry Texans.

And we’re grateful for that. But the foods that are most often requested by the people we serve are protein, dairy and fresh fruit and vegetables. So those are the ones we’re least likely to get donated.

Venison is a healthy wild protein. And, if you plan to hunt this season, consider donating an animal to Feeding Texas’ Hunters for the Hungry program.

This is a program that allows hunters to donate their deer to participating meat processors around the state.

Details tomorrow.

That’s our show for today… Funding provided in part by Ram Trucks. Guts. Glory. Ram

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.