When deer season opens on Nov. 11, “Share the Harvest” will begin its tenth year of operation in Grundy County.
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In 1997, 25 deer were donated by hunters that contributed a total of 1,278 pounds of venison. To date, Share the Harvest has donated nine and one-half tons of venison to the Grundy County Service Center for families needing food assistance.
Success in Grundy County is due to local sponsorship that pays for processing not covered by the statewide cooperate sponsorship. The Conservation Federation of Missouri, along with Bass Pro Shops and Shelter Insurance, will reimburse $35 of the cost of processing a whole deer donated to the program. Local sponsorship will donate the remainder of the cost to process the deer for distribution by the local food pantry. The target of the program is to get at least 40 whole deer donated by local hunters. Bob White Processing is a USDA inspected facility and an approved Share the Harvest meat processor. For more information about the program in Grundy County, persons can call the First Christian Church at 359-3928 or Dennis Browning at 359-6771.
Hunters wanting to participate in the Share the Harvest Program should take their legally harvested deer to the processor and donate the deer. Only whole deer donations will be eligible for the paid processing. No fees are paid by the hunters for the first 40 deer donated, just the cost of the short drive to Edinburg to drop off the venison. Partial deer donations to Share the Harvest may be given, but are not eligible for the paid processing. Deer may be donated above the target number, but the second half off the processing normally paid by local sponsorship will need to be paid by the hunter.
There are no administrative costs to this program. All money collected goes toward the cost of processing the venison for distribution in the county. The Trenton First Christian Church coordinates this project and works with the Grundy County Service Center to distribute the meat to qualifying residents of Grundy County. Eligibility for this service is directly linked to those individuals who qualify to receive assistance from the local food pantry.
The mechanism to receive and process the donated deer is in place and ready for action. The only element missing is hunters with a generous heart to make this program a complete success in Grundy County