With hunting season gearing up and firearm deer season just around the corner, there’s a local meat market that helps the hungry in our area by processing donated deer. Jimmy Rankin Meats has participated in the Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger program for the past eight years and will continue to do so this year. Jim Rankin, owner of Jimmy Rankin Meats said his “store processed nearly 1,000 pounds of deer meat last year as part of the program.” He also said “the processed meat is donated locally to Mid-City Nutrition.” Rankin also spoke highly about DTE employees at the Greenwood Power Plant, saying, “they continue to provide deer for the program. According to Rankin, “last year alone the employees dropped off over 50 deer.” Rankin finished by saying that, “the program has been working really well.”
Michigan Sportsmen Against Hunger was established in 1991. They are an all volunteer non-profit organization that coordinates with participating licensed game processors throughout the state as drop off locations for whitetail deer harvested by hunters during the hunting season. Jimmy Rankin Meats is the only drop off location for the program in St. Clair County. The group estimates that since the inception of the program, nearly 640,000 pound of venison has been collected providing over 3 million meals.
Reporting for WGRT, Mike Smith.
