In partnership with Adam Farms Processing and North Carolina Hunters for the Hungry, the Extension Venison Donation Program started September 2024 in Cherokee County in an effort to decrease food insecurity and support local food pantries.
The program expanded in 2025 to include venison donations back to Cherokee, Clay, and Graham counties with a potential reach to over 5,000 food insecure individuals.
One deer can provide approximately 200 meals.
How It Works
If you are a licensed deer hunter and you would like to donate a legally harvested deer to help decrease food insecurity in your county (Cherokee, Clay, and Graham), bring your deer to Adam Farm Processing located at 184 Stiles Packing Lane, Marble, NC this deer season. Full deer that have been field-dressed and quartered deer (preferred) are accepted for donation.
Once you drop off your freshly harvested deer, Adam Farms will process the deer meat into ground venison. A local food pantry will then pick the meat up for distribution to food insecure populations. Currently, we have eight food pantries participating across three counties in Western NC.
Funding
Funding is provided through North Carolina Hunters for the Hungry, Inc. which is a coalition of conservation and nonprofit organizations working together with corporations, individuals and state agencies to be actively involved in the fight against hunger in North Carolina.
More About N.C. Hunters for the Hungry
NCHFTH was founded in 1993 as a 501c(3) tax exempt, non-profit organization. NCHFTH utilizes existing food distribution systems to provide ground venison to women's shelters, soup kitchens, church pantries, and other community-based resources, which provide assistance to vulnerable individuals and families. Legally harvested deer are donated by licensed hunters for processing at facilities reviewed by the NC Department of Agriculture. An effort is made to return the processed venison back to the region in which it was harvested.
Please share this information with local hunters. You may make monetary donations directly at Adam Farms Processing if you would like to support this effort.
For more information, please contact the program coordinator, Marlana Baker at (828)837-2210 ext. 5 or by email at marlana_baker@ncsu.edu
