Hunters are being asked to help feed the hungry in Illinois this deer season through the Hunters Feed Illinois program.
The way the program works is that hunters take any deer they've harvested to a participating meat processing plant, where the processors will then turn the deer into ground meat for food pantries across the state.
For food safety, the whole deer must be donated, said officials.
Locations that are participating in the Hunters feed Illinois program are:
•River Bend Wild Game & Sausage Company in St. Joseph
•Moweaqua Packing Plant in Moweaqua
•Connelly Locker in Martinsville
•Oconee Chop Shop in Oconee
•Howe’s Custom Deer Processing in Cowden
•Windy Ridge Processing in Shobonier
•Blair’s Slaughtering and Processing & Salt and Strings in Louisville.
If you're a meat processor and wish to get involved, call (217)345-7034.