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Firearms deer season starts Saturday, Nov. 16

SPRINGFIELD, Mo.— Firearms deer season starts tomorrow, and Ozarks Food Harvest is reminding hunters that they can donate venison through the state’s Share the Harvest program.

Share the Harvest is an annual partnership among the Conservation Federation, the Missouri Department of Conservation, area meat processors, the state’s six food banks, including Ozarks Food Harvest, and thousands of local food pantries served by the food banks, to provide venison donated by hunters and processors to Missouri families in need.

Hunters can have their deer processed to donate locally to Ozarks Food Harvest, either for free or at a very low cost, depending on the participating processor. Here’s how it works:

• Hunters take their deer to an approved processor and instruct how much venison they wish to donate, from a few pounds to the whole deer. There is no price reduction for partial deer donations. Funds are available to cover the processing costs when a whole deer is donated.  Hunters should contact their local participating processor to determine the exact amount.

• The processor will then package the meat and the hunter is responsible for delivering it to Ozarks Food Harvest at 2810 N. Cedarbrook Ave. in Springfield.

A list of participating processors within Ozarks Food Harvest’s 28-county service area can be found below. For more information, go to the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Share the Harvest program site at http://mdc.mo.gov/hunting-trapping/deer/share-harvest.

During the last hunting season, more than 52,000 pounds of venison was donated in Ozarks Food Harvest’s 28-county service area through Share the Harvest. That was an increase over the nearly 40,000 pounds donated the previous year.

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About Ozarks Food Harvest—The Food Bank
Ozarks Food Harvest is the Feeding America food bank for southwest Missouri, serving more than 200 organizations across 28 Ozarks counties. The Food Bank distributes 10 million meals annually to 170,000 unduplicated individuals. OFH celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2013. Learn more at ozarksfoodharvest.org, facebook.com/ozarksfoodharvest or twitter.com/ozksfoodharvest.