Deer killed in parks go to feed families, homeless

METROPARKS /

TOLEDO — Cherry Street Mission Ministries and a monthly food distribution food program for needy families are sharing the donation of nearly 10,000 pounds of venison processed from deer killed in Swan Creek and Oak Openings metroparks.

Metroparks of the Toledo Area recently distributed 9,540 pounds of ground venison to Cherry Street Mission and 400 pounds to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Assumption in western Lucas County.

Dan Rogers, Cherry Street Mission’s president and chief executive officer, said some of the venison given to his group will be shared with food programs at Helping Hands of Saint Louis in East Toledo, Toledo Gospel Rescue Mission and Pilgrim Church.

Scott Carpenter, Metroparks spokesman, said 200 deer were harvested in hunts approved by the Ohio Division of Wildlife; 150 were taken in Oak Openings Preserve Jan. 4-5, and 50 in Swan Creek Preserve on Feb. 3.

The sharpshooters killed 36 females and 14 males at Swan Creek and 105 females and 45 males at Oak Openings.

Carpenter said the state permit approved for the Metroparks allowed for up to 25 percent of the removed deer to be antlered.

The culls were part of the Metroparks’ deer-management program to control the white-tailed deer in the park system and reduce the ecological damage associated with burgeoning herds.

The deer kill at Swan Creek was delayed because the city of Toledo raised legal issues about the cull violating municipal law prohibiting hunting and discharging a firearm within the city.

An ordinance allowing a waiver to the park district to conduct the deer cull failed 5-6 in a council vote on Jan. 24, but was approved two weeks later, 8-4.

Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry, a nonprofit group that promotes venison donations to food pantries, stepped forward to pay half the $12,000 cost for venison processing.

The Metroparks paid the other half.

Roger Ward, a Holy Trinity parishioner who volunteers with the food pantry, said the deer meat was included in a recent distribution of canned goods and vegetables. He said the program serves 105 to 120 needy families monthly in Lucas, Henry, Fulton, and Williams counties.

The program, which made available 60 tons of food last year, also can provide money to cover rent and utilities.

“We try to get people on track. We started the program to help people who need and want the help to get them out of the situation they are in,” Ward said.

Rogers said that while the deer cull may have been controversial, the processed venison that came out of it is being used to feed the community’s hungry.

“No matter what side of the conversation you are on, whether you are for it or against it, the one thing people agree on is that people are being fed and the food is not going to waste,” he said.