Deer hunters are helping feed the hungry people of Iowa through the Help us Stop Hunger, or HUSH program with the DNR. The effort is a collaboration among hunters, Iowa’s food banks, and the DNR. The purpose is to provide high-quality protein to Iowans struggling with hunger and to help manage Iowa’s deer population. Last hunting season, hunters donated more than 3,000 deer, providing more than 600,000 meals. When a participating hunter wants to make a donation, he or she takes a legally harvested deer to a participating meat locker, where the deer is dressed and converted into ground venison. Two-pound tubes of frozen ground venison are distributed through Iowa food banks to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other emergency food providers. In Washington County, Boyd’s Sausage Company and the Brighton Locker are participants in the program.