NEW YORK’S VENISON DONATION PROGRAM

New York ’s “Venison Donation Coalition” has received national notoriety and serves as a model for such organizations in other states. It was started by a Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) biologist, Greg Fuerst, from the Bath area and his wife, who is a social worker.  They tied together the state's need to thin the deer herd with the state's need to help feed low-income families. They approached the RC&D about it, then brought in the DEC, Farm Bureau, Conservation organizations, and other interested parties.

The Venison Donation Coalition has evolved into a statewide not-for-profit coalition administered by the Finger Lakes RC&D Council. The RC&D Council handles the distribution of much of the processed meat to approved food banks and outlets. It coordinates with: other RC&D councils across the state; the DEC, which handles the licensing, regulations involving the carcasses, meat and pays the salary of one of the program's administrators who is a DEC biologist; the State Association of Food Banks; the NYS Farm Bureau; several state sportsmen's organizations, including the NYS Conservation Council; and three members at large that help raise funds and coordinate the project.  DEC has a matching funds program through the General Fund and the RC&D Councils get state and federal grants that help with funding.

In 2003, the Conservation Alliance of New York (CANY) joined together with two existing venison donation organizations, formerly part of a national venison donation program called “Project Venison” and administered by “Buckmasters” of Alabama. This was done in order to provide more help to our less fortunate and neediest citizens by using all of the funds raised in New York for New Yorkers. The two organizations became known as the “CANY Venison Donation Program”. 

One of those organizations is the “Venison Donation Program of Broome, Tioga, and Chenango Counties” with Dave Henderson as chairman.  The other is the “Venison Donation Program of Otsego/ Delaware Counties” with Al Bowers in charge. These groups have taken their working knowledge of donating venison and incorporated it into the CANY framework.  Dave's group has worked with the RC&D Council over the last four years. Al’s group from Otsego/Delaware has been working for three years and has its own meat processing and distribution program. The Broome/Tioga/Chenango program has raised enough money to donate 41, 600 meals in their area while the Otsego/Delaware program has donated about 29,800 meals.  The two groups' donations combined have raised and donated, with the help from sportsmen and women, enough money to feed  71,400 meals to our neighbors in need. 

The CANY program works this way. There is a fund-raising dinner each year in for the Broome/Tioga/Chenango program and another dinner for the Otsego/Delaware program. Dave runs some additional fund-raisers. Hunters and farmers take deer carcasses to approved processors (110 in 50 counties) who butcher, grind, package, and freeze the meat for pickup by a member of the program.  The Coalition or the Otsego/Delaware program pays the processors an agreed to price per pound and any expense incurred in distributing the meat.

The statewide Venison Donation Coalition paid for the processing and distribution of 108,600 pounds last year, making their 4-year total equal 244,300 pounds of venison.  Figuring that a “quarter pounder” is a full meal, that's 977,200 meals.    

The Coalition and CANY have 501(c)3 status. The RC&D Council handles the bookwork, legwork, etc. for the Coalition, and CANY handles it for the Broome/Chenango/Tioga and Delaware/Otsego programs.