Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo (D-Endwell) is partnering with the Food Bank of the Southern Tier to raise awareness of the venison donation program in New York State. She was joined by Natasha Thompson, President and CEO of the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and Daryall Sprague, a member of the Broome County Sportsmen’s Association for a news conference at the Broome County Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Binghamton today.

The Venison Donation Coalition was established in the year 2000 to help organizations that wanted to begin or enhance venison donation programs in their areas. When hunters donate their venison through participating processors, they are not charged for processing services. Hunters can also contribute a dollar to the Venison Donation Coalition when they purchase their sporting licenses. These funds are used to help pay for the processing costs.

“The Venison Donation Program is a successful and popular way for hunters to help food banks meet demand, while controlling deer populations,” said Lupardo, a member of the Environmental Conservation Committee in the Assembly. “Legally tagged and properly field dressed deer can be taken to participating processors at no cost to the hunter. One deer provides approximately 160 servings of highly nutritious ground venison to those in need.”

After the venison is processed and packaged according to the law, it is picked up by the Food Bank of the Southern Tier for distribution to neighbors in need through their network of soup kitchens and food pantries. In 2009, the Food Bank of the Southern Tier received 6,565 pounds of donated venison from area hunters and farmers. In 2010, only 4,097 pounds has been donated so far.

Each week, over 11,000 individuals visit a hunger-relief agency served by the Food Bank. In 2009, the Food Bank distributed nearly 7 million pounds of food to neighbors in need across the six Southern Tier counties of Broome, Chemung, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins. The Broome County Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Binghamton processes a half million pounds of food annually.

For a complete list of participating processors or to learn more about the Food Bank of the Southern Tier and the Venison Donation Coalition, visit the Food Bank’s website.