Delaware Sportsmen Against Hunger distributes 18,000 pounds of venison to Delawareans in need
Sunday, May 24, 2015
DOVER (May 20, 2015) – During the 2014/15 deer season, Delaware hunters donated 604 deer to DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife’s Sportsmen Against Hunger program. The donations were processed into 18,016 pounds of venison, which will provide more than 72,000 meals for needy Delawareans. Division of Fish & Wildlife staff distributed the frozen ground venison to 36 charitable organizations and food pantries throughout the state.
Venison for the Sportsmen Against Hunger program was processed by nine participating private butchers and the Sussex Community Corrections Center’s (SCCC) butcher shop in Georgetown, which is staffed by offenders who are serving sentences in the SCCC’s Violation of Probation Center and who have been specially trained for the job as part of a job training program. Since the SCCC program began in 2005, the facility has processed more than 78,000 pounds of venison, including 3,768 pounds from 215 deer taken during the 2014/15 season and donated to Sportsmen Against Hunger.
With the number of donated deer down slightly this season from last season’s 645, nearly 3,207 pounds less venison was produced than for the 2013/14 season.
Since the Delaware Sportsmen Against Hunger program was founded in 1992 by a coalition of sporting groups, hunters have donated a total of about 439,016 pounds of venison, providing more than 1.7 million meals to Delawareans in need.
For more information, please visit the DNREC Division of Fish & Wildlife website at Sportsmen Against Hunger, or call 302-284-4795.