November 2025: Wild Game Meat Donation Month

WHEREAS, hunting in Michigan offers opportunities to connect with nature while providing food security and nutrition to hunters, their families and the community through wild game donation programs; and,

WHEREAS, state wild game donation programs including Hunters for the Hungry and Hunters Feeding Michigan, launched in cooperation with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, are an important way to fight hunger; and,

WHEREAS, Feeding America reports that 1,544,250 Michigan residents, including one in five children, struggle with food insecurity, an issue exacerbated by rising food costs; and,

WHEREAS, research shows that while American hunters share 119 million pounds of harvested game meat with others outside their households each year, many meat processors involved in wild game donation programs are not receiving enough donated meat to satisfy the need; and,

WHEREAS, the DNR is funded largely by hunters through a user pay system known as the North American Model of Wildlife Conservation, resulting in $20,929,296 in federal Pittman-Robertson funding going back to Michigan in 2025 for its critical wildlife and habitat conservation programs; and,

WHEREAS, hunger is a problem we can help to alleviate through initiatives such as wild game donation programs; and,

WHEREAS, hunting organizations across America declare November National Wild Game Meat Donation Month to encourage hunters to donate surplus wild game meat and financially support local wild game donation programs;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, Gretchen Whitmer, Governor of Michigan, do hereby recognize November 2025 as Wild Game Meat Donation Month in Michigan.