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FARGO — Sportsmen Against Hunger is a program run by the Community Action Partnership of North Dakota that allows hunters to donate venison, moose, and even black bear meat to local food banks by submitting it to participating processors throughout the state.
In 2021 they were able to donate 2,770 pounds of meat to food pantries throughout the state.
In 2020 they donated even more, giving out 3,996 pounds.
The program's director Carmel Froemke says that one of the reasons they've seen a decline recently is because of the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease to new areas in the state.
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According to Froemke, it's something that's been slowing down the process.
"Being cautious of what parts of the carcass that they can bring to the processors and what not. So I think that has limited our numbers a bit," Froemke said.
But that hasn't stopped hunters across the state from participating in the program. All they have to do is find a processor in their region that participates in the program, donate their legally obtained animal, and the processor takes care of the rest, including sending the final product to a local food bank. Anyone who wants to support the program further can pay for the processing fees as well.
It is important to note that they do not accept any birds, including pheasants.
For those in Fargo looking to participate, currently the closest partnering processor is in Enderlin, North Dakota.
The program's director says it would be easy to change that if a local business was interested.
"It's a pretty easy process. There's really not a formal contract. It's just kind of a gentleman's agreement, as we like to call it. And we just need to collect some information from them," Froemke said. "We would advertise then on our website and they would be set to go. We'd just need a simple W-9 at the end of the year to reimburse them."
For more information on the program, visit capnd.org or call the director's office at 701-232-2452.
