DEKALB COUNTY, Ind. (WFFT) -- Doug Treesh lives on 40 acres in rural Corunna.
The basement of his home is his “man cave,” where he proudly displays his trophies - deer from his hunting trips.
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Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry
A few yards down the road is D&D Meat Processing, his business where he and his crew work to prepare meat, ranging from livestock to kills from his hunts.
“Hunting just gets you out into the great outdoors, fresh air, especially this year with the COVID going on," Treesh said. "It’s the perfect place for social distancing.”
As Firearms Deer Season begins on Saturday, social distancing isn’t the only thing it'll be good for.
It'll also help feed families who face food insecurity due to the pandemic.
“Most hunters will harvest one [deer] for themselves and then they’ll donate a second one,” he said.
D&D Meat Processing is one of 85 meat processors statewide that partner with Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry, a nonprofit that donates meat to hunger relief agencies.
Treesh's wife Debra founded the organization in 2011, after years of volunteering in food banks.
She noticed a lack of available protein and he knew just where to get it.
Meat is hard for food banks to get ahold of, so he suggested collecting game meat hunters had extra of.
They say venison is leaner, cheaper, and easier to come by than livestock.
In Indiana, 880,000 people are food insecure - 270,000 of whom are children.
Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry Fund Development Director Amber Zecca says her organization's mission is to lower that number.
“The process is quite simple," Zecca said. "You get a hunter that wants to donate a deer, takes it to one of our processors, we process it and then we call the food banks."
She says that people can only eat and fill their freezers so much and when there’s leftover, that’s when “Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry” comes in.
Deer firearms season opens Nov. 14. Tonight, I talk to a meat processing plant about how hunters can help feed the hungry. @FOX55FortWayne #deerhunting pic.twitter.com/TGEJiCJ7F2
— Nico Pennisi (@npennisiFOX55) November 10, 2020
