Hunters donate meat to Saskatoon Food Bank

Hunters with the Saskatoon Wildlife Federation are shooting not for trophies but for charity this holiday season.

Today, the organization donated 270 kilograms of ground venison to the Saskatoon Food Bank.

It's something we would love to bring into the building more often.- Deborah Hemp,Saskatoon Food Bank director

"We want to share the resource," said federation president Robert Freberg.

"This is how our country was founded the tradition of hunting and feeding ourselves and many of our hunters felt that this was something they wanted to share with others."

The wildlife federation started the Hunt 4 Hunger program in 2010. Since then, they've donated more than 4,500 kilograms of wild meat.

"It's something we would love to bring into the building more often," said food bank director Deborah Hemp. "It's a good source of proteinand it can be put into recipes that can really stretch: Soups and stews and that sort of thing."

As the holidays get closer, the food bank said this is a great time of the year to receive the donation. Food bank usage is expected to increase by 17 per cent this month.