News & Updates

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ….”  Matthew 25:35   ​

Springing Into Action Against Hunger

Spring is here! It’s a time of renewed life and hope. It’s also a time when it’s easy to forget that our neighbors still need our help. When people face hunger, they often struggle to meet other basic needs such as housing, health care and transportation to work.

 When children and families are facing hunger it’s not just hard to meet basic needs it’s hard to have hope. Hope can mean a lot to someone going through a difficult time. It can mean the difference between hanging on or giving up. 

Hunger is not seasonal and there’s no better time to fight hunger than right now! We all know that giving is a good thing. Doing good for people in need makes us feel good, and provides a sense of accomplishment and pride. When you help someone in need it encourages them to help others. It inspires people to get involved to create a better community. We are asking you to “spring into action” today to help your neighbors who are struggling with hunger and give them hope. Why? Because it’s the right thing to do and it’s the kind thing to do! 

Food pantries, food banks and feeding ministries often list protein as their top donation need. FHFH pays the cost to process deer and livestock donated to participating meat processors so there is no cost to the hunter or farmer donating or to the food pantry, food bank or feeding ministry receiving the much needed meat. We can’t do it alone – we need your help! 

​Please join with FHFH today and help people who are going through tough times. You’ll become part of a group of compassionate people dedicated to ending hunger, changing lives and making better communities! There are many ways you can “spring into action” against hunger:

• Give a financial gift to help pay the meat processing cost for donated deer and livestock.
• Donate deer or livestock to a participating FHFH meat processor.
• Start a new FHFH chapter in your community by becoming an FHFH coordinator. 
• Volunteer to help with an existing FHFH chapter.
• Share FHFH with your friends, family, coworkers and on social media (Facebook and Twitter).
• Raise funds:
  • Have a Facebook fundraiser.
  • Have a yard sale.
  • Have a board game, corn hole or ping pong tournament with family and friends and donate the entry fee.
• Get your kids involved. They’ll learn about giving back and helping people in need.  Here are a few ideas for kids to get involved in the cause:
  • Have a lemonade stand.
  • Start a charitable donations jar.
  • Babysit. 

On behalf of FHFH and all those in our country suffering from hunger, we THANK YOU for your continued interest and support of our mission.  

Sincerely,

  

​Josh Wilson
Executive Director

The Sam’s Club in Ontario, Ohio and the Possum Run Walmart, Ohio awarded funding to Black Fork FHFH (OH-43). 

The Possum Run Walmart donated $1,000 and Sam’s Club donated $250. The funding will help pay the processing fee for donated deer to feed the hungry in these communities.  

Thank you Walmart Foundation, the Possum Run Walmart and Sam’s Club in Ontario for supporting our mission and providing food for people in your community who are hungry.

The Great Lisbon Farmers Feeding the Hungry Christmas Horse Parade distributed donations from the 2018 Parade during the Howard County Farm Bureau Legislative Dinner. Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry was given $2,500 which will help get more deer processed for local food banks and feeding ministries in Central Maryland this year. 

We appreciate the donation to our ministry and all the hard work that went into this parade.

Venison Bottom Round with Colcannon, Frizzled Leeks and Caraway Seed Carrot Puree

By Bobbie Jo Wasilko
He Hunts She Cooks

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

• 3 pound Venison Bottom Round *(substitute bottom butt, shoulder, or 4 large shanks)
• 2-12 ounce Bottles Guinness or Kaliber (non-alcoholic) beer
• 3 cups Beef Stock (low sodium) or Venison Stock
• 1 Leek (white and light green parts only)
• 1 Large Onion
• 2 Carrots
• 2 Celery Stalks
• 2 Tbs. Tomato Paste
• 1 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 Tbs. Onion Powder
• 3 Sprigs Fresh Thyme 
• 2 Bay Leaves 
• 1 tsp. Caraway Seed (fennel or anise seed)
• 3 Tbs. All Purpose Flour

Instructions:
*The venison can be made 1-2 days ahead and gently re-heated on top of the stove over low heat.

• 1. Bring the venison to room temperature 1 hour before cooking.
• 2. Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees.
• 3. Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• 4. Coat the venison with flour and shake off the excess, and set meat aside.
• 5. Rinse the leeks to remove all dirt and sand. Then dice the leeks (white and light green parts only), onion, carrots, celery and set aside.
• 6. Mince the garlic and set aside.
• 7. Coat a large frying pan with oil and heat to medium-high. 
• 8. Add the venison and brown on both sides, then remove to a large casserole dish, roaster, or dutch oven.
• 9. Turn down the heat to medium and add the chopped vegetables to the frying pan and sauté until caramelized, about 5 minutes.
• 10. Add the minced garlic and tomato paste and sauté a minute.
• 11. Add 1/2 cup Guinness/Kaliber over the vegetables to de-glaze the pan. 
• 12. Pour all the vegetables, remaining Guinness/Kaliber, stock, spices, herbs, and all remaining ingredients over the venison and cover. 
• 13. Place in the oven to braise 3-5 hours. Check at 3-1/2 hours and return to the oven until the meat is tender, if needed.
• 14. Once the venison is tender when pierced with a fork, remove the venison and discard the bay leaves and thyme stems.

**Serving Suggestion:  Serve the venison with traditional Irish Colcannon (mashed potatoes with kale and leeks).

The FHFH online auction has started!  You can support our hunger relief mission by participating in our 4th FHFH National Auction.  Auction items will be listed at EBay.com and Gunbroker.com.  All proceeds help our ministry provide meat to those in need.
 
CLICK HERE to check it out, place your bids, and share with friends and family!

A special thanks to these companies and organizations who provided donated and discounted merchandise for this auction event: CVA, Excalibur Crossbow, Henry Repeating Arms, Hoyt Archery, Lyman, Mathews, Mission Crossbows, NRA, QDMA, Redneck Blinds, TenPoint Crossbow Technologies and Twigg Cycles.

Helping Those in Need Since 1997

Do you remember when McDonald’s listed how many total hamburgers they had served at the bottom of their signs? The numbers were in the millions. Then the billions. Then just “billions and billions.” Eventually that line disappeared from the signs. I guess we got the message – they’ve sold a LOT of hamburgers!

​In the early years of our ministry, a group of volunteers helped serve the evening meal at a local church soup kitchen. As the meal concluded a young girl proclaimed that the spaghetti with venison meat sauce had tasted even better than her meal at McDonald’s the night before. One of the volunteers asked the cook how this family could afford to eat out one night then end up at a soup kitchen the next. She replied, “Oh I know that family. They eat from the dumpster behind the restaurant.”

Thanks to the Lord’s provision through generous supporters and friends like you, FHFH has been able to help hunters feed a lot more children and families. Since 1997 we have provided over 20 million servings of nutritious meat from donated deer and livestock to the hungry of the local communities we serve!

Now we need to keep going. Food banks list meat among their top needs. And as you know, the hunters who donate their deer know where to find it! We just need to continue raising enough money to pay our participating local butcher shops to process the meat for the food banks and ministries so they can help more families like the one mentioned in my story above.

On behalf of FHFH and all those in our country suffering from hunger, we THANK YOU for your continued interest and support of our mission. Together let’s work to add the next “million served” to our sign this year!

Sincerely,

  

​
Josh Wilson
Executive Director

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ….”  Matthew 25:35   

One of the Most Needed Food Items

The next time you are in a large group of people, imagine 1 in 8 of the people you see is holding a sign that says “I’m hungry” – and 1 in 6 of them is a child! That image is staggering! More than forty-one million people in the United States are going hungry. They include more than 12 million children and almost five million seniors.  They live in every community in our country, including your own.

​​Sincerely,

  

​
Josh Wilson
Executive Director
Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry was founded in 1997 and has grown to more than 130 local coordinators working to feed the hungry in over 25 states.  Since its founding, FHFH has provided over 19.9 million servings of meat to those in need.

Individuals, businesses, organizations and groups continue to step up to the plate to show their support and help FHFH continue to feed the hungry. One supporter, the non-profit conservation group Whitetails Unlimited (WTU), recently awarded a $4,700 grant to FHFH. Over the past 10 years, WTU has contributed more than $40,000 to FHFH.

Hunting Retailer recently featured an article about FHFH and Whitetails Unlimited.  CLICK HERE to read the article.

FHFH is grateful to Whitetails Unlimited for their support of our mission of feeding the hungry.

Abbie who is a high school student in Missouri wrote the following essay about feeding the hungry. Thank you Abbie for caring about those in need and sending us a copy of your essay!

“Feeding the Hungry”

Over 12-million children and 15-million households are currently suffering from food insecurity. Realizing this vast number needed to drop, I interviewed Kendra Graham, a Field Specialist in Livestock at the University of Missouri, and Josh Wilson, the Executive Director of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry to get their opinion on how this number could lower.

Kendra Graham’s job with Extension provide a research-based education to producers. A way she is able to assist those in need of food is to provide those with information and knowledge to raise their own livestock. “Other ways University Extension can help is through the food and nutrition program. Specialists in nutrition can visit with people to help them sign up for food assistance. These specialists can also teach healthy eating habits and educate on food types and how to prepare it.” Graham states.

Josh Wilson is in charge of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH), which provides nutritious meat from donated deer, elk and livestock to local food banks and ministries that feed those in need. Hunters and farmers are invited to donate their deer and livestock to participating local butcher shops who process and package the meat at a discounted price for the organization. Financial donations to the organization are used to pay the meat processing bills so that hunters, farmers, and the organizations that receive the meat can participate free of charge.

I asked them both if they had any ideas on how people in a community can help out those struggling with hunger and Graham and Wilson both agreed that to help out those in need people can donate food, money, or their time at local food banks. FFA students may also participate by conducting a local food drive to raise awareness on feeding those that are in need of food.

I asked them how they think agribusinesses can use their managing to help the hungry. The two agreed, if there are supplies that exceeds demand the product could be distributed. Graham mentioned, “There are cases where product supply exceeds demand and the extra product needs to be utilized quickly before spoiling.  In this situation that extra product can be sent to organizations that distribute food to the people that need it.” Wilson also made a great point that, “They could also work to educate farmers who have hunters on their property to help control deer numbers and crop damage about programs like FHFH that can use harvested deer to provide meat to the needy.”

My final question was, what are some ways you think that farmers could benefit the hungry? Both Graham and Wilson agreed that farmers could participate in local food drives and organizations. Wilson also mentioned, “Another idea would be to plant a few extra rows or an extra field and invite a local gleaning program to come and harvest it for use in feeding the needy of the community.”

Whether you are a farmer, an FFA student, or wanting to help someone in need, if we work to waste less food, donate more time, and participate in local food drives we can reduce the percentage of those that are hungry.

​Horseradish Crusted Venison Top Sirloin with Black Current Sauce and Caraway Seed Spaetzle Gratin

By Bobbie Jo Wasilko
He Hunts She Cooks

A roasted venison top sirloin (aka “football roast”) is topped with a horseradish panko crust and served with an easy black currant sauce.  The sweetness from the sauce is a great foil for the bite of horseradish.  Add a side of homemade creamy cheesy caraway seed spaetzle and Sunday dinner just reached a whole new level!  

​Ingredients

For the Venison

• 1-two pound aged Venison Top Sirloin (aka “football roast”)
• 1 tbs. Fresh Cracked Pepper
• 1 tbs. Kosher Salt
• 1 tsp. Juniper Berries (crushed)
• 1 tsp. Caraway Seed
• 6 tbs. Prepared Horseradish (you can serve extra horseradish mixed with a little mayonnaise along side the roasted meat, if desired)
• 1/3-1/2 cup Panko (Japenese Breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 cup Grape Seed Oil ( or canola oil, or olive oil) plus a few tablespoons for searing

For the Black Currant Sauce

• 1 cup Venison Stock (or veal stock, I use More Than Gourmet brand)
• 1 cup Cabernet Sauvignon Red Wine
• 1 Shallot, minced
• 3 tbs. Black Currant Preserves
• 1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Black Pepper
• 1 tbs. Butter

For the Caraway Seed Spaetzle

• 1-1/2 cups AP Flour
• 3 Eggs
• 1 tsp. Kosher Salt
• 2 tbs. Caraway Seed

For the Gratin

• 1/2 cup Heavy Cream
• 1/2 cup Gruyere Cheese (or Emmantaler, or other Swiss cheese)
• 1 Beaten Egg
• 1/2 cup Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• 2 tbs. Butter, melted

For the Venison

• 24 hours ahead, trim venison of all silver skin and coat with pepper, salt, crushed juniper berries, and caraway seed and place in a zip lock bag.
• Pour 1/4 cup oil into the bag.
• Refrigerate overnight.

To Cook the Venison

1. Remove the venison from the fridge 1 hour before serving to bring to room temperature.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Heat a cast iron (or oven safe pan) over medium-high heat and add 3 tablespoons oil.
4. Quickly sear the venison on all sides.
5. Turn off the heat, and smear the horseradish over top and sides of the venison.
6. Top the horseradish with panko and place, uncovered, into the oven.
7. Roast the venison to no more than medium-rare, about 10 minutes.
8. Serve with black currant sauce.

**For the Black Currant Sauce

• Heat 2 tbs. oil in a sauce pot over medium-high heat.
• Add minced shallot and sauté for 2 minutes.
• Add the stock and red wine, black pepper and simmer until reduced by 2/3, about 45 minutes.
• *This can be done the day ahead and refrigerated.
• Just before serving, add the black currant preserves to the reduced stock.
• Add 1 tbs. butter to give the sauce some shine.
• Serve with venison.

For the Caraway Seed Spaetzle

• *They can be made the day ahead and assembled and then refrigerated and brought to room temp. before baking.
• Mix flour, eggs, salt and caraway seed and set aside for half hour (this is to create a thick batter).
• Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and add 1 tbs. Kosher salt.
• Using a spaetzle maker, add the dough, about 1/2 cup at a time and press down on the plunger over the pot of water to create the noodles.
• Once the spaetzle noodles rise to the top (about 30 seconds), remove them to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
• Continue adding batter to the pot until all the spaetzle are cooked.

For the Gratin

• Once all the Spaetzle noodles are cooked, butter the inside of 4-6 ounce ramekins.
• Grate the gruyere cheese add the beaten egg and heavy cream into a bowl and mix.
• Add the cooked spaetzle and divide between the 4 ramekins.
• Melt the butter and mix with the panko then top the ramekins with the crumbs.
• Bake in a 300 degree oven for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

Notes

• Spaetzle makers are quite inexpensive and cost from $6 up. A “ricer” makes a great spaetzle maker also. A colander with large holes can be used as a substitute, but you will need a helper to hold colander over the boiling water while you add the batter and scrape across the colander to push the batter through the holes, to create the noodle shapes.
• You can substitute making the homemade spaetzle for a bag of pre-made spaetzle, or extra wide egg noodles, or macaroni and just boil them and then add the caraway seed to the cheese gratin.
• The spaetzle can be boiled and cooled then assembled into the ramekins the day ahead, and refrigerated, then bring to room temp before baking. If refrigerating, bake a bit longer since they’ll be cold to start.
• Sautéed cabbage makes a great side dish (I was out of cabbage at the time, or I would have used it.)
• **The Black Currant Sauce: Can be made the day ahead, and reheated over low heat for serving.