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Utah farmers and hunters are asking for venison donations to help feed poor and low-income families.
Kelly Bingham, president of the Utah chapter of Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, says the group also needs donations to help process deer from this fall's hunt.
"The hope is that hunters, even in a tough time, can afford to help out with the donations of paying for the processing," Bingham said.
He says processing venison costs about $50. He adds, only about 2 percent of the deer that are hunted end up on a needy person's plate. He adds that it's a real treat when the venison shows up at a food bank.
"The people that come and get the meat just love it. It's something they don't get a lot of," he said.
He says more than 60,000 Utahns and natural disaster victims in the rest of the country have been helped by the venison donation program.
Steve Blackman, of Utahns Against Hunger, says more families than ever are heading to emergency food pantries and the venison donations will help.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report. Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
