News  Help MassWildlife combat hunger this giving season

MassWildlife is proud to announce that the Hunters Share the Harvest venison donation program has expanded once again for 2025. This impactful program allows licensed hunters to donate venison to those in need, while supporting forest conservation by utilizing hunting to manage deer populations.

Fittingly, the Share the Harvest Program first launched on Thanksgiving Day 2022. In its pilot year, more than 3,000 meals were distributed to 378 families through the Food4Vets program. Since then, over 60,000 nutritious meals have been donated to food insecure Massachusetts households. For the 2025 deer hunting season, we’re happy to share that there are now 18 participating processors, making the opportunity for hunters to donate deer more accessible than ever. We’ve also expanded to over 25 food distribution partners across the state, including Ludlow Veterans Center, Rachel's Table of Western Massachusetts, Damien's Food Pantry, Wampanoag of Aquinnah’s Kinship Heals, Loaves & Fishes Food Pantry, Northampton Survival Center, Worcester County Food Bank, Nourishing Nantucket, and more. Thanks to generous hunters, we have already distributed over 3,000 pounds of venison to food distribution partners this year and are on track to have a record number of deer donated this season. 

In addition to providing an organic, low-carbon source of lean protein to families facing food insecurity, this program has also been useful at facilitating conversations with the public about the importance of regulated deer hunting to ecosystem conservation. High deer densities negatively affect forest health through overbrowsing vegetation and can result in significant agricultural damage for local farmers. With help from this venison donation program, licensed hunters can continue to play an important role in deer management even after their freezers are full as they have an outlet to donate deer to those in need. 

This program would not be possible without participating processors and the donation of harvested deer by hunters. Additionally, monetary donations help cover the processing and packaging costs for donated meat. A donation of $50 will provide about 75 servings of meat for families in need. You can make a monetary donation online or by mail using the instructions below. 

How to make a monetary donation

 Online: Go to the MassFishHunt Donate Page and add a donation to "Hunters Share the Harvest" to your cart. Use a credit card to pay and follow the instructions to log in to an existing MassFishHunt account or check out as a guest. 
 
By mail: Make checks payable to Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (write HSH Program in the memo) and mail it to: 
 
MassWildlife 
Attn: Hunters Share the Harvest Program 
1 Rabbit Hill Rd 
Westborough, MA 01581 

 If you’d like to know more about the Hunters Share the Harvest Program, visit mass.gov/sharetheharvest.