For some, deer hunting season is more than a chance to pursue their favorite pastime. It’s also an opportunity to help others. We take you to the woods of North Carolina where hunters are putting meat on the menu. A single deer can yield more than 150 servings.
Hunters feeding people beyond their own families is nothing new, but the need is increasing. In 2006, United Methodist Communications brought you the story of Bolivar First United Methodist in Tennessee. At the time, members were participating in a program call Hunters for the Hungry.
How can your church help? Organizations like Hunters for the Hungry operate in many states. Contact your state chapter. Churches can organize hunts to donate venison, or raise money to help offset the cost of meat processing so that more donations can be turned into meat for food pantries.
Script:
(High Point, North Carolina)
Donnie Moorehead has enjoyed hunting since he was a boy, but everything Morehead bags today is headed for a North Carolina nonprofit. Harvest Camp is a free treatment program for men dealing with drug and alcohol addiction.
Donnie Morehead, Zion Hill United Methodist Church: “It’s actually simple to do. We’re already hunting. We just take enough game for them also.”
Joe Walker, Harvest Camp, Director: “These guys can eat a lot. And it’s amazing to see them when they first come in, how under-nourished they are really because they’ve been out on the streets.”
Jerry Hedgecock, Sandy Ridge United Methodist Church: “When I took that last deer down there, they were gonna have deer meatloaf that night.”
Jerry Hedgecock and fellow United Methodist Men donate several deer each year and pay for the meat to be processed.
Jerry Hedgecock: “Could be 50 pounds of meat. And it usually costs about $30 to get one ground into hamburger, cube steak…”
Donnie Morehead: “Pass it on. Pass the food on. The extra is always needed. There are many places that would be very happy to receive this.”
Joe Walker: “The food, it means a lot because these guys know that people care because people are providing for them. These guys get the nourishment they need for their bodies and then we try to provide the nourishment for their souls.”
This video was produced by United Methodist Communications in Nashville, TN.
Contact is Joe Iovino.
This video was first posted on November 16, 2020.
