Safari Club International (SCI) proudly celebrates November as the first ever “Wild Game Meat Donation Month.” This month-long celebration encourages hunters to donate legally harvested game meat to food banks and commemorates the important role that sportsmen and women play in serving underprivileged communities. To further celebrate this, SCI looks forward to recognizing Chapters that go above and beyond during this year’s Convention Chapter awards ceremony.
SCI has a long history of facilitating and promoting game meat donations, primarily through Safari Club International Foundation’s (SCIF) “Sportsmen Against Hunger” program. Since 1989, SCI Chapter members have organized community and statewide systems to help facilitate annual wild game harvest donations. This generosity has resulted in millions of low-fat, low-cholesterol, preservative-free, high-protein meals for the hungry at food banks and soup kitchens nationwide. Additionally, SCI members have participated in other game meat charities, including “Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry” and “Virginia’s Hunters for the Hungry.”
SCI has also fiercely advocated for hunters by supporting legislation that expands game meat donation opportunities. SCI played a pivotal role in the passage of Texas House Bill 2213, which allows hunters to donate legally harvested non-native animals to food banks across the state, by activating members to send hundreds of emails to lawmakers supporting the bill. Prior to this, only native species could be donated to food banks, even though Texas is home to large populations of non-native species that have fed global communities for centuries.
“Wild Game Meat Donation Month embodies everything that SCI stands for, which is exercising our freedom to hunt while having a positive impact on our communities,” said SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin. “We are proud of our contributions to this important cause through our Sportsmen Against Hunger program and our boots-on-the-ground advocacy. We strongly encourage our members to give to those in need this November and look forward to celebrating this month every year with the entire hunting community.”
