As youth and bow seasons are open for deer hunting, area meat lockers are receiving donations for the Help Us Stop Hunger (HUSH) program.

Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the Food Bank of Iowa, meat processors, and Iowa deer hunters collaborate in the HUSH program to help fight hunger by donating meat to food pantries.

Brighton Meat Locker has been participating in HUSH for eight years, and they’ve started to receive donations for this year. Brighton Meat Locker co-owner Judy Augustine shares why they take part in HUSH, “It helps the needy. And we’ve had people that call, they don’t want the deer they just have the enjoyment of going hunting and shooting it. And rather than let it go to waste, they bring it in here and donate it to the HUSH program.”

Augustine says Brighton Meat Locker received about 80 deer donations last year. They take the field-dressed deer free of charge and debone it, grind it, and put the venison in two pound bags ready for food banks to pick up. According to the DNR more than 2,800 deer were donated last year, generating about 550,000 meals for Iowa’s less fortunate. Hunters who participate in HUSH can hunt longer than normal, helping reduce the Iowa deer population, and providing protein to citizens in need.