Access Food
Help us feed the hungry. Let the thrill of your hunt help others!!
Several years ago, Access Illinois Outdoors recognized there was a resource available to address a need in our community. That resource was our deer and the need was hungry families. The Access Food – Feed the Hungry program provides a mechanism where hunters can donate a deer, and we pay all the processing costs and deliver the processed meat to food pantries in a four-county area. Individuals continually face the challenge of how to stretch their income to feed their families. This need has continued to grow with the rising costs of food. Over 13 tons of processed venison was donated last year when we had exhausted our funding. This provided 110,000 meals and helped feed 27,000 individuals. The pantries continue to see an increase in demand for protein products and are seeing many new families as clients. The Access Food program is the only program that helps with obtaining meat donations and is very important to our food pantries. According to Feeding America, 11% to 13% of residents in the counties we serve are deemed “food insecure” meaning they do not have steady access to food. The childhood food insecurity rate for our area is disproportionately higher at 24% versus the state average of 20%. This means that 1 in 4 children do not know where their next meal will come from. Protein is a vital part of a healthy diets for all ages, but most significantly for children and seniors. Children under the age of 5 are most susceptible to protein deficiency, causing fatigue, increased infections and can cause permanent damage if left untreated for a prolonged time. Seniors struggle making tough decisions of how to spend limited income and often go with meat, running the risk of more fractures.
Our fear every year is that we will not raise enough funds and not be able to fill the need we are seeing at our local food pantries. We are excited to share that Feeding Illinois has agreed to partner with us in our effort to cover the costs of processing. This partnership will be a huge help to us meeting our goals. All contributions are tax deductible. Every donation will be very much appreciated and will help to feed hungry people. Please help us!
To make a donation or for more information, pleases contact the Access Illinois Outdoors office at 1301 East Washington, P. O. Box 87, Pittsfield, IL, 62363, 217-285-2464.