Celebrating their 10th year, the Help Us Stop Hunger campaign is a cooperative effort between deer hunters, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat lockers and the Iowa DNR to reduce the deer population in Iowa as well as provide high-quality red meat to the less fortunate in Iowa.
Board Member of the Food Bank in Stuart Marlis Beeler, says that venison is loved by some of the clients that frequent the food bank, and they have between 20-30 pounds of venison in the freezer.
All meat given locally, stays local, Coffee says, “The greatest thing about HUSH that really doesn’t come across on the webpage is that this meat is donated by hunters to local processor, to process and then picked up and distributed back in that local community.”
Even though the deer population is at a level that is currently satisfying for residents, Coffee wants Iowans to remember, “Probably the biggest thing is that the demand far exceeds the supply, the Food Bank of Iowa, this is one their largest sources of protein, the meat does not stay on the shelves very long, as soon as it is picked up from the processors, it is distributed almost immediately.”
The HUSH program has had great success, and Coffee wants to see that trend continue, “the integrity of the program as high and the output as positive as we can to help Iowans.”
This model is trying to be emulated by others nationwide, the Iowa DNR receive phone calls every year from other states that are impressed with their program.