Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles congratulated Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry (KHFH) on a banner year in which the organization increased the amount of venison donated to Kentucky’s charitable feeding agencies.
Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles, second from right, helped promote Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry (KHFH) at the 2018 Kentucky State Fair with, from left: KHFH Executive Director Roger LaPointe; Karen Waldrop, deputy commissioner of the Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife Resources; and KHFH Chairman Mike Ohlmann. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture photo)
“Kentucky’s sportsmen and women, like our farm families, are great conservationists and stewards of the land,” Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said. “As part of the Kentucky Hunger Initiative, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture has been working with the Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources to support Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry, and we are excited to see the growth their organization has experienced this year. We look forward to working with them in the years ahead.”
Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry released numbers to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture (KDA) that revealed:
•Kentucky sportsmen and women donated 1,460 deer in 2018, up from 921 in 2017 and the highest number since the organization was founded in 2000.
•Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry donated more than 62,000 pounds of processed venison, or 310,960 servings.
•More than 50 charities in the Commonwealth benefited from Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry donations.
“As Commissioner Quarles suggested, this was a banner year for Kentucky Hunters for the Hungry,” Roger LaPointe, KHFH executive director, said. “We are grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with him and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture as a part of the Kentucky Hunger Initiative and hope to feed more hungry Kentuckians as a result.”
Commissioner Quarles also praised KHFH for piloting a program with Kentucky 4-H. KHFH and Fish & Wildlife provided opportunities for 4-H members in Breckinridge, Elliott, and Spencer counties to hunt and donate deer meat to needy families in their communities. The program will be scaled statewide in the coming deer season.
KHFH is a statewide hunger relief program dedicated to providing a healthy source of protein to needy Kentuckians. KHFH’s mission is to alleviate hunger and malnutrition in Kentucky by processing and distributing donated venison to those in need, to provide an outlet for hunters to help their communities, and to promote environmental stewardship through wildlife management. It was founded in 2000.
The KDA launched the Hunger Initiative two years ago to bring together farmers, charitable organizations, faith groups, community leaders, and government entities to look for ways to reduce hunger in Kentucky. To find out more about the Hunger Initiative, go to kyagr.com/hunger.
Kentucky Department of Agriculture
