Hunters wanting to help the hungry have made it possible for more than 240 pounds of venison to be donated to Care Station in Clarksdale.
And Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi has backed up that donation with a check for $8,000 courtesy of the Maddox Foundation.
“Providing meat to our people can be challenge, because it is expensive and it is perishable,” said Charles Estess, spokesman for Care Station. “This will benefit a lot of people in Clarksdale.”
One pound of venison can feed four people when mixed with condiments also provided by Care Station.
Hunter Harvest, a nonprofit that donates ground deer meet to local pantries, has partnered with deer processing facilities in six counties in the Delta to provide lean and clean venison to the hungry.
The program has hunters harvest a deer and pay a processor to butcher it. The meat is inspected before it is donated to Care Station and the Mid-South Food bank.
Care Station was founded in 1987 to focus on feeding the sick and shut-in residents of Coahoma County with hot meals as well as walk-in needy persons. Prior to COVID they were preparing meals five days a week, 50 weeks a year with about 50 walk-ins served daily on site. During COVID they delivered 220 meals, three days a week on seven delivery routes.
Care Station also prepares “care snacks” of fruit, canned food and bread distributed on Fridays for the weekends. During Thanksgiving holidays, the Care Station routinely serves over 1,000 lunch meals.
Care Station averages around 850 meals a week making annual total of around 55,000 meals per year.
In addition to the hot meals served daily by the Care Station, during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Care Station started a monthly Mobile Food Pantry serviced by the Mid-South Food Bank feeding over 350 households each month in Coahoma County.
The Community Foundation and Maddox Foundation gift to Care Station will be used to purchase a new freezer and new partnership between Hunter's Harvest will continue to provide meat to Clarksdale families.
