Conducting a "clean out your freezer" food drive for game meat
Considerations...
- Check with a local food pantry, or the Feeding South Dakota office in Sioux Falls (605-
335-0364), Pierre (605-494-3663), or Rapid City (605-348-2689) to find out if there is
interest in receiving frozen game meat from a "clean out your freezer" food drive in your
community.
- If so, determine from the pantry or food bank involved what will be accepted in terms of kind(s) of game meat, age of game meat, and home and/or commercially processed meat. (Other foods could be accepted as well.) Also arrange for possible temporary food storage, and for delivery to a food pantry/bank.
- Possibly plan and coordinate with other organization(s) in your community.
- Inform the local Conservation Officer of tentative plans for the food drive to make sure there is approval/permit) for possession and transportation of donated game meat, and to otherwise find out what record keeping would be required. Be sure to ask about special gifting rules for migratory birds.
- Select a date, and hours of day, to conduct the food drive. A Saturday in September
or October just prior to the major deer hunting seasons usually works well as long as it
does not conflict with the opening of any hunting season.
- Possibly consider offering to pick up food to be donated.
- Select at least one food drop-off location that is well-known to the public, and make
arrangements with the location owner.
- Provide plenty of publicity at least 2-3 weeks in advance of the food drive including what,
when, where, why and how. Also arrange for media coverage of the drive.
- Arrange for plenty of coolers at the drop-off location(s) to temporarily store frozen meat until it can be taken to pre-arranged food pantry freezer(s). At least one person involved in conducting the food drive should be at each drop-off location for the duration to answer questions, monitor cooler storage space, and provide for timely delivery of the frozen food to a freezer for storage until can be taken by the food pantry/bank.
- Report results back to the community with "Thanks".
- Contact Jeff Olson (605-342-2445) or Ron Fowler (605-280-4977) if have questions.