(Macomb, Illinois, September 28, 2021) – With hunting season quickly approaching, Western Illinois Regional Council-Community Action Agency (WIRC-CAA) is getting ready for its annual Hunters Helping the Hungry program. While WIRC-CAA has a food pantry in Macomb, the social service agency shares the donated deer burger with other pantries throughout Hancock, Henderson, Knox, McDonough, and Warren counties.
This program is critical to food pantries in rural, impoverished areas, as they need the frozen deer burger to keep their food supplies stocked throughout the year. “The deer burger is frozen as soon as it is packaged so that our partner pantries can have a reliable source of meat to give to their clients,” said WIRC-CAA Public Relations Manager Jamie Roth. “Some of those pantries do not have much funding, so the Hunters Helping the Hungry program relieves some of the pressure of collecting donations and allows them to focus on their mission of fighting hunger.”
Last year, hunters donated over 7,700 pounds of deer burger to Hunters Helping the Hungry. WIRC-CAA hopes to exceed that amount this season, especially with so many families being financially impacted by the pandemic.
Hunters can take their deer to the following processing centers and request that the deer burger be donated to the Hunters Helping the Hungry program: Blandinsville Locker Service, 315 South Harrison Street, Blandinsville, IL; Prairieland Processing Bowen Locker Service, 115 East 5 th Street, Bowen, IL; Bushnell Locker Service, 330 Green Street, Bushnell, IL; and Woodhull Locker, 330 North Division, Woodhull, IL.
WIRC-CAA pays for the processing of the deer burger until the program’s federal grant funding reaches its limit. If that happens, hunters that are willing to pay for the processing at their own expense are welcome to do so and the deer burger will be distributed through area pantries.
WIRC-CAA provides a wide variety of social service programs for people in several counties in western Illinois. The agency seeks to provide a helping hand to anyone in need. For more information about the Hunters Helping the Hungry program, call WIRC-CAA at 309-837-2997.