CLEARFIELD – Local meat processer the Country Butcher has donated 300 pounds of professionally-butchered, processed and packaged meat for consumers of the Mature Resources Area Agency on Aging.
Plans have been finalized to distribute the meat to seniors in need who are already served by MRAAA, and are in need of extra food.
The Country Butcher frequently gives back to the community in a variety of ways. Owner Jason Gill said beef, pork, chicken and other commercially-offered products are available at the Country Butcher’s retail location at 135 Race St., in Clearfield.
It is these products that are also donated to people with food insecurity each year through Gill’s generosity.
Over the past year, 13 families benefited from donations of food from the Country Butcher, with some even receiving a brand-new freezer, free of charge, in which to keep the donated food.
Gill also participates in the Hunters Sharing the Harvest program, which has donated nearly two million pounds of wild game to those in need since 1991.
To participate in the program, businesses like the Country Butcher must be approved through Hunters Sharing the Harvest to assure their facilities and food safety practices meet professional food safety standards.
Gill said he and his team process between 1,200 and 1,500 deer each year at their processing facility in Woodland.
Hunters who wish to donate a deer to the Share the Harvest program need only to drop it off at the Woodland Facility with a completed tag, at no charge, and the meat will go to someone in need.
“I just like to give,” Gill said. “I’m blessed to have a business and a family that gives me the means to do it. It just feels good to do it.”
You can follow the Country Butcher on Facebook.
