“WE LIKE BIG BUCKS!”
I love a good pun, so a line from Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry caught my attention.
“We like big bucks and we cannot lie,” says a newsletter from the Garrett, Indiana organization, recalling a 1992 song by Sir Mix-a-Lot.
Hoosiers Feeding The Hungry (HFTH) provides protein to food banks and food pantries across Indiana. They call it “Meat the Need.”
The organization accepts donations of deer and livestock from hunters, farmers, 4-H members and members of FFA.
Katie DeForest, fund development director, says, from its base in northeastern Indiana, HFTH directed “just over 211,000 pounds throughout the state” during the agency’s last fiscal year. Meat is “ very hard commodity to come by,” at food banks and pantries, DeForest said. “It’s not something they usually get as a donation, so they have to use their own funding on it.”
DeForest told me the meat gathered by HFTH and its partners is processed locally and goes to pantries “without any cost to them, so that they are able to nutritionally meet the needs of everyone that would come to their pantry.” That means, DeForest says, the pantries can use some of their own funds to purchase other necessities – “fresh produce, dairy, eggs, so [pantry customers] can have a more well-rounded meal.”
Kroger proudly supports Meat the Need with an annual donation of $10,000. DeForest says that contribution provides enough meat for nearly 28,000 nutritious meals for people in need. We’re honored to feature “Meat the Need” as an ingredient of our Zero Hunger / Zero Waste plan in Indiana.
HFTH will accept donations of livestock, large game, or any financial contribution to support the program. It also needs volunteers across the state. If you can assist in any way, you’re invited to visit hoosiersfeedingthehungry.org for more information.