SYRACUSE N.Y (NCC NEWS) — Shelves inside the Food Bank of Central New York are stocked with food, but hunters may lose out on their opportunity to donate venison to it.
The food bank works with the New York Venison Donation Coalition (NYVDC) program, which posts fliers and informs hunters about their options to donate venison. The program educates hunters on how to prepare the meat and donate it.
However, the NYVDC is low on funding, after losing its grant from the New York Department of Environmental Conservation. It is losing $6,000 per year, according to Greg Fuerst, the program’s director.
Fuerst said that the organization has posted advertising and also a GoFundMe page found on its website to encourage people to donate to help support the program. He hopes it can make up the $6,000 deficit, but the end goal is to surpass that to keep the program strong in the future.
“We just got to be looking to the future to see how to keep things going like they have for 20 years,” Fuerst said.
The program works closely with the food bank. Peter Ricardo, the product donations manager for the food bank, said that the advocacy and outreach that the program does is important in informing hunters about their donation options.
Ricardo said that when the NYVDC receives funding, it pays for hunters to prepare their meat for donation to the food bank. Ricardo also said that the advocacy the NYVDC provides helps educate more hunters to increase donations. He said that lack of funding could mean less promotion or education for hunters.
“Getting the word out, keeping people educated about what the process is, that’s job number one,” Ricardo said of the NYVDC.
