Deer season is here, but not every hunter is taking their harvest home. Some are teaming up with a local meat processor to help feed hungry families this holiday season.

“All the hunters have to do is donate their deer,” said Steve Gill of DC Meats in Osceola.

It's the busiest time of year at DC Meats. They have been processing donated deer to feed the hungry. A group known as Farmers and Hunters pays Gill a small fee to process the venison.

“Each deer we figure averages 50 pounds,” said Gill. “That's 200 meals for people in the area, so each deer donated last year we donated 15,000 meals from the deer hunters alone.”

The meat goes to local food banks that pass it along to other social service groups. In addition to helping feed the needy, the program helps control the growing deer population in the area.

Gill says although this is the busiest time of the year for their company, preparing special holiday orders for customers, they don't mind. It is their way of helping out the needy.

“As a small company, you know, we're labor rich and dollar poor,” said Gill. “So for our way to give back to the community, obviously it helps out a lot for us to just donate our labor.”

Kirk Blank of Granger donated a deer on Monday.

“I think this is a great program and it will help feed people,” said Blank, “and there are a lot more animals out there to be harvested to control the population. Organizations like the Faith Mission in Elkhart benefit from the program.”

They say the program is a blessing, especially during the holidays.

“It comes at a real good time,” said Ross Swihart of Faith Mission. “We usually get it ground up and we use it like hamburger, and so we can use it in a lot of different things, so it is really beneficial.”

So far DC Meats has already processed enough venison for 10,000 meals. Their goal is to at least reach 20,000 meals.

Contact DC Meats at (574) 674-2333.