Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, October 3, 1993 TAG: 9310030143
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C13 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL COCHRAN
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Last year, the program contributed 68,000-pounds of venison to food banks, soup kitchens and food pantries. This year's goal was 125,000 pounds, but Horne recently trimmed that to 90,000. Now he wonders if he will be able even to reach last year's total.
The scarcity of deer isn't the problem. In fact, even before the first deer hunting seasons opened Saturday, Horne had gathered 15,000 pounds of venison from damage-permit kills and other sources.
It is a lack of money, not meat, that is putting the brakes on a program that has been of tremendous benefit to hunters and the hungry. It takes money to cut, wrap and freeze a deer - about $30 per animal - and it takes still more money to distribute the meat.
Horne has spent much of the year knocking on the doors of foundations and corporations looking for funds to operate the program, but the results have been disappointing.
"It is frustrating when you know you can do more and you just can't access the money to do it with," he said. "The deer are out there. Hunters are willing to donate them. If we had the funds, I am sure we could do 125,000 pounds."
There is just enough money now to get the program through the bow and early muzzle-loading seasons, Horne said.
"Without additional finances we will not be able to accept deer during the firearms season. That is when most of the deer will be donated to us."
Now it appears hunters aren't just going to have to donate deer but dollars as well. It is a familiar story, hunters carrying all the burden, but there is a positive side, too. We who are blessed with the opportunity to walk in the wilds can share with people who rarely trod on anything but concrete, asphalt and hard times. We can give to people who seldom have meat in their diet a delicacy that can't be purchased in stores at any price.
Horne is looking for contributions from sportsmen, hunt clubs and civic organizations.
If just 5,000 of the state's 350,000 deer hunters contributed $10 apiece, the 90,000-pound goal could be met, he said. Thirty dollars will put 50 pounds of meat on the table of the hungry.
"The small donation makes a difference," he said.
Contributions should be sent to: Hunters for the Hungry, P.O. Box 304, Big Island, Va. 24526.
As for contributing venison, the program works this way:
A hunter can take his deer to a meat processor who has signed on with the program. There are about 40 this season, up from 13 in the program's first year.
The hunter simply tells the processor that the venison is for Hunters for the Hungry. The processing will be paid by the program; however, a hunter can give the program a needed boost by paying the fee. When he does, he is free to take part of the venison and donate the rest.
We plan to publish a list of the processors in our annual Hunting Pages on Oct. 25. If you need that information sooner, Horne can be reached at 1-800-352-4868.
"As far as our financial problem, I believe it is a short-term, 1993 problem," Horne said. "We aren't going under. I do believe the potential is there to do a quarter-million pounds of venison annually."
By this time next year, Horne expects to be in much better financial condition, because early on he will go after contributions from hunters. They shouldn't disappoint him.
by CNB