Written by Misty Bowers – It’s not too late to donate a legally tagged and harvested deer to Good Samaritan Ministries’ The Deer Project. You can hunt all the way through January 1st and if your freezer is already packed full, take your deer to one of four participating processors and donate it to The Deer Project to provide a lean source of protein to our Brown County neighbors.
Already this season, 8,183 pounds of venison have been donated through the project that is free for the hunter.
“This is such a unique and incredibly beneficial program,” said Leesa Stephens, Executive Director of Good Samaritan Ministries. “It partners hunters with processors and donors to provide food for those at risk of hunger in Brown County.”
The program is simple. Just take a legally tagged, harvested and field-dressed deer to one of four participating processors: M&M Processing in Zephyr, Lonestar Taxidermy and Processing in Owens, Perk’s Processing in Brownwood and Santa Anna Custom Processing. Tell the processor that you’d like to donate your deer to The Deer Project. That’s it. Thanks to generous donations from the community for this specific project, there is no cost to the hunter.
Last year was a record year for The Deer Project with more than 16,000 pounds of venison donated which lasted almost a whole year. Just more than half of that has been donated so far this year with a limited time left to hunt.
“If you haven’t been hunting yet or if you still have tags left, use them all,” said Stephens. “All you will be out is the time to go out and do something you love anyway. And you will have the satisfaction of knowing that just by filling out all of your tags, someone will have lean protein on his or her plate.”
And when hunters donate, they can enter their name into a drawing to win one of several prizes including:
- Browning Xbolt 6.5 Creedmoor with Leupold VX-1 3-9 x 40 Scope sponsored by Weakley Watson Sporting Goods and ranch Pro Real Estate
- A family Aoudad/Hog hunt at Wheeler Ranch in Medina sponsored by Wheeler Ranch
- A $500 shopping spree sponsored by an anonymous Deer Project supporter
- A $450 full shoulder mount redeemable at Santa Anna Custom Processing sponsored by Santa Anna Custom Processing
- Two (30 oz) RTIC Tumblers sponsored by Johnson Gun Works
For more information about The Deer Project, please visit goodsambwd.org or call 325-643-2273.
Misty Bowers
Communications Director for Good Samaritan Ministries
Misty Bowers serves as the Communications Director for Good Samaritan Ministries. She and her husband, Toby, have twin sons, and live in the Brownwood area.
Good Samaritan Ministries (GSM) works to proclaim the Gospel in both word and deed to all people in need in Brown County, through several food programs. GSM regularly feeds 1,000 families each month.
