By Jodie B. Owen, NCwildlife.org
Want to help feed the hungry? The NC Wildlife Resources Commission, along with the NC Wildlife Federation, is offering hunters free use of a mobile cooler to collect and transport deer safely to participating USDA-certified processors for donation to the NC Hunters for the Hungry Program.
Qualifying conservation and charitable organizations and organized hunt clubs can reserve the deer cooler on a firstcome, first-serve basis Monday through Thursday each week until January 1, 2016, by submitting an online application, available on the Commission’s website at www.ncwildlife.org/hunting .
The cooler, which is stored at the Commission’s Williamston Depot in Martin County, measures 6 feet by 12 feet and is attached to a 7-by-16-foot trailer that can transport the cooler to and from hunting events and approved NC Hunters for the Hungry processors. The cooler is powered by a 6,800-watt generator and can hold up to 20 deer in cold storage.
“The NC Wildlife Resources Commission is proud to partner with the NC Wildlife Federation and the NC Hunters for the Hungry Program to utilize hunter-harvested deer to provide meat to those who are in need,” said Tommy Hughes, the coastal area ecoregion supervisor for the Commission. “In addition to providing valuable meat, hunters are also helping manage our state’s deer herd.”
The Federation acquired the cooler in 2013 using funds from the NC Tobacco Trust Fund Commission and other participating organizations. It recently transferred it to the Commission for management.
The NC Hunters for the Hungry Program is a non-profit organization that works with state agencies and other conservation organizations like the NC Wildlife Federation to provide legally harvested venison to food relief organizations.
See www.nchuntersforthehungry.org for more information on the NC Hunters for the Hungry Program.
For more information about the deer cooler and to make a reservation, visit the Commission’s website, www.ncwildlife.org/hunting .
