By Jennifer Theurer

The state of Kansas is known for the quality deer hunting and hunters can help feed the state’s most vulnerable through the Kansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry program. Tony DeRossett, the program’s president, said donations can be made through one of the 25 participating meat processors in the state that are listed on the organization’s website at kshfh.org.

“They fill out some paperwork, a few lines of information – their name, tag number, that sort of stuff,” DeRossett said. “I raise money year-round to pay for the majority of the processing fee and we have it ground into packages of burger.”

Those packages are then distributed throughout the processor’s community. According to the KSHFH website, one deer can feed nearly 200 people. Since the program started in 2001, over 12,000 deer have been donated, feeding nearly 3 million meals to hungry Kansans.

While deer is the most popular donation, KSHFH will also accept elk and the occasional antelope.

“There are some other states that do some things like waterfowl and wild hogs, but we haven’t figured out the necessary procedural things to do that here,” he said.

While donating to the program is virtually free for the hunters, DeRossett said some processors may ask the hunter to help cover processing fees with a drop-off fee.