Hunters Can Help Feed the Hungry Through Minnesota’s Venison Donation Program

(KNSI) – With Minnesota’s firearms deer season underway, hunters have a chance to help feed those in need if they don’t want their deer meat through a venison donation program.

McDonald’s Meats in Clear Lake is one of the few processors in central Minnesota participating in the program. The state-run initiative, established by the Minnesota Legislature in 2007, allows hunters to donate deer to local food shelves. The program requires hunters to bring in whole, hide-on deer carcasses.

Shop manager Jennifer Dierkes explained to KNSI why the donations require specific handling through approved meat processors rather than just dropping deer off at the food shelves. “The biggest issue would be cleanliness. They want it to come through a shop rather than processed by the hunter in the field. A lot of guys do a good job, but out in the field, it’s a little bit harder to get it as clean as we can in a setting like we have in our shop.”

Hunters interested in donating don’t need to call ahead or complete any paperwork in advance. When dropping off a deer at McDonald’s Meats, hunters simply fill out a half-sheet form with their name, address, and the zone where the deer was harvested. Dierkes says they’ll take it from there. “They only have us cut it into roasts, and we grind the trim. The state takes it and runs it through a metal detector to get any metal fragments that may have been left in that deer from when it was shot and they discard all that. They want to make sure that what’s going to the food shelf is good for all ages.”

The processor typically handles about 1,500 whole deer each season, in addition to the oodles of quartered deer and boneless trim for regular processing customers.

McDonald’s Meats is located in downtown Clear Lake, just south of St. Cloud on Highway 10.

For more details on the program, click here.

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