CHARLESTON, W.Va. — An invitation only hunting trip produced $50,000 dollars for the state’s Hunter’s Helping the Hungry program. Governor Jim Justice recently presented the check to the Mountaineer Food Bank to help defray the cost of processing and distribution of venison donated to the program.
The money comes from the Governor’s One Shot Hunt which was held last fall at Stonewall Resort in Lewis County. The event is an antlerless hunting trip followed by a banquet used as an annual fundraiser for the program. Hunters invited to be part of the event make a donation to the program and hunt for antlerless deer during the antlerless hunting season on private property throughout central West Virginia. The banquet, with many donated items for auction, is held at Stonewall.
“The program has been around 29 years and 26,973 deer have been processed for the hungry. It’s unbelievable what people in our state are trying to do for people in need,” said Justice.
The program allows hunters to donate any unwanted venison to be used for homeless shelters, soup kitchens, or food pantries all across West Virginia. Deer killed during the season are dropped off at participating processors who grind the meat and pack it into two pound packages. Those packages are distributed through the the Mountaineer Food Bank in Gassaway and the Second Harvest Food Bank in Huntington. The donations provide nutritious venison to those who have very little to eat.
“We all know there are people all over our state going hungry. In 2019 we saw this program reach 1.25 Million pounds of venison being process for people,” Justice said.
Hunters donated the deer and the donated money pays for the processing and distribution. Under federal law, the DNR can only administer the program. Any use of hunting license funds for processing and distribution would be a diversion and is not authorized.
Justice lauded individuals who participate in hunting and made a donation either with meat, money , or both.
“We need to absolutely recognize the goodness our hunters and our leadership are doing for this state to help the hungry,” he said.