- News -
Hunters Sharing the Harvest Surpasses Last Year’s Donations
Rocket-Courier | December 19, 2019 | David Keeler
With late season archery and muzzleloader seasons promising even more venison donations to Wyalusing’s Helping Hands Food Pantry, Ann Burgess, who manages the Wyalusing Area Rotary’s Hunters Sharing the Harvest (HSH) program, says donations of deer to the program are already well ahead of last year.
PA’s HSH program is a charitable venison donation program, which is marking it’s 27th anniversary. It allows hunters to share their venison via a statewide network of participating butchers who are paid for their services through monetary donations from the state level. There is no cost to hunters to donate to the program.
According to Burgess, last year hunters donated 1,100 pounds of venison, which area butcher shop grind and freeze before it is taken to Helping Hands Food Pantry for distribution.
So far this year, Burgess said 1,309 pounds of venison have been donated, and there is another 300-400 pounds waiting to be picked up at Burke’s Meat Shop in Athens. “There are 12 deer waiting to be processed at Litzelman’s in Dushore,” Burgess said. “I expect we’ll see well over a ton of venison donated before the season is completed,” she said.
Venison Dinner Set for January 25
The public is invited to attend a venuson dinner, Burgess said, that will take place at the Wyalusing Fire Hall starting at 5pm on Saturday, Jan. 25. There is no charge for the dinner but donations are encouraged. Hunters who donated deer to the program are encouraged to attend.
The menu will consist of Swiss venison, venison tenderloin, chili, meatloaf, sloppy joes, and jerky, all prepared with venison. The menu will also include vegetable dishes, coffee, tea, and lemonade.
For more information about the dinner of how you can donate to the program, call Burgess at 570-746-3212.
