Bill Cochran

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After working as a Hunters for the Hungry volunteer during a recent outdoor show, I came away with the feeling that the program has great name recognition, but many hunters don’t know flip about how it works.

We were selling raffle tickets on a 400cc Arctic Cat ATV and a Holmes trailer to carry it. The package was sitting in our display all shiny under the floodlights. It was valued at more than $7,000. The raffle chances were a measly $5, making it a good deal, for a great cause.

So here comes a man approaching our display and I ask him: “Would you like to buy a $5 chance on this ATV to benefit Hunters for the Hungry?”

“I already got one of them at home,” he says of the ATV.

I learned that a lot of hunters own ATVs, because I herd the same reply more than once. Some have two or more.

But that really wasn’t the question. The implied question was: “Will you help Hunters for the Hungry and as a byproduct we are going to give you a chance on this ATV?”

I wanted to tell him that it didn’t matter how many ATVs he had at home or he owns the company that makes them. The $5 ticket was to benefit Hunters for the Hungry, not necessarily him. But I was too nice to say that.

Here comes another hunter my way. I ask him if he would like to buy a chance or make a pledge. He doesn’t. I tell him that I didn’t know of another program that brings more good publicity to hunting.

“I gave a deer last year,” he says, with an “I’ve already done my part” posture.

Hunters for the Hungry always is grateful for donations of deer. It expects to receive about 9,000 this year. Such contributions made by hunters are vital to the program, but right now the big need is for bucks of the folding kind.

The thing that makes or breaks this program is the money contributed to process deer, a reality that many hunters don’t appear to grasp. The processing fee is about $40 per deer. At the moment, deer are more abundant than funding.

Already this year, Hunters for the Hungry has processed about 170,000 pounds of venison, and the fall hunting seasons haven’t even started. A couple months ago, $30,000 in unpaid processing bills had piled up without funds to pay them. While the bleeding of red ink has stopped, thanks to generous contributors, the next big challenging is the fast-approaching bowhunting season. The program needs to raise nearly $200,000 to process archery-killed deer.

Next I am volunteering at a show in Catawba where the participants aren’t just hunters. The comment I hear this time from some who pause at our display is: I’m not a hunter.”

We aren’t talking about hunting; we are talking about feeding the hungry. You don’t have to hunt; you don’t even have to like hunting, to contribute to Hunters for the Hungry. What counts is the fact that last year the 17-year-old program processed and distributed a record 380,151 pounds of venison, enough for 1.52-million quarter-pound servings for the needy.

The program easily could do 500,000 pounds, even more, if funding were available, according to Gary Arrington, the special events coordinator. There is a waiting list of agencies that need meat.

The challenges of this season are awesome. The struggling economy has meant that there are more needy people to feed than ever before. At the same time, contributors to the program are holding on to their money a bit tighter.

And there are new hunting regulations coming online that are designed to significantly boost the doe kill, thus increasing the number of deer coming into the program. If the money isn’t there, the program has no choice but to shut down.

There are a couple of major fund raisers on the horizon where you can have fun while contributing money:

• The annual Hunters for the Hungry Sportsmen’s Banquet, Sept. 12, 5:30 p.m. at the Roanoke Moose Lodge #284 located on Virginia 311 at the southern foot of Catawba Mountain. The banquet last year netted $27,000. Banquet tickets are a modest $20 for singles and $35 per couple, which is about half the price of many sportsmen banquets. This is a kid’s friendly program, with children under 12 admitted free and with special gifts and programs for youngsters. Tickets are available from Fred and Phyllis Wells, 540-992-3874 or may be purchased at Dave Sarmadi Mitsubishi in Roanoke.
• Volunteers have put together a sporting clays benefit shoot Sept. 27 at the Flying Rabbit Sporting Clays in Mount Crawford. The initial response to this fundraiser has been spectacular. Cost for the 100-target event is $50, lunch included. Call Flying Rabbit Sporting Clays, 540-574-2529.

If you can’t attend either of these events, contributions can be sent to Hunters for the Hungry, P.O. Box 304, Big Island, Va. 24526. Check the revamped Web site: h4hungry.org.