This food bank couldn't properly store donated meat, so hunters made another donation: a freezer

From left: Nick Kelly, Corey Foster and Barry Fordham. A partnership between the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association and Sharing the Harvest N.L. bring in a new freezer for the Single Parent Association's food bank. (Arlette Lazarenko/CBC)

When hunters in Newfoundland and Labrador learned a St. John's food bank wouldn't be able to store any donations of wild meat properly, they offered something else — a freezer.

On Wednesday, Corey Foster, executive director of the Newfoundland and Labrador Outfitters Association, wheeled the freezer — wrapped up like a Christmas present — into the Single Parent Association of Newfoundland and Labrador, where Nick Kelly, co-ordinator of the association's food bank, unwrapped it.

"It's amazing when we can get a donation of this value," Kelly said. "It's really valuable to have somewhere where we can store it and keep the quality."

The idea was sparked when hunter Barry Fordham, co-founder of Sharing The Harvest N.L. — an organization that encourages hunters to donate some of their catch — noticed that food banks often didn't have a way to keep donated meat for long.

In 2020, Sharing the Harvest partnered with the Outfitters Association to donate five freezers to food banks in the province.

Foster says when Fordham reached out to him again to donate freezers to two more food banks, one to the Single Parent Association and the other freezer to Connections for Seniors, it was "an easy yes."

"There's a need, and we're very happy to have recognized it and to be able to help fill that need," Foster said.

On Wednesday, Fordham also brought two bags full of moose meat.

"We're living in hard times, and it's not only food bank clientele that are feeling the pinch, it's everyday people," he said.

"So to be able to help out in this small, maybe insignificant way, is my way of paying it forward."

WATCH I Moose meat is about to become a lot more popular, says St. John's food bank co-ordinator:

A call to hunters

The help is appreciated, says Kelly, as the need for food and the services of food banks continues to increase. Any food, whether gathered from the store or the forest, is welcome.

"I just hope that maybe some other hunters will be able to step up like Barry and and his group has done to to share their harvest with us," Kelly said.

Fordham urged hunters to bring any unused meat to their local food banks instead of letting it go to waste.

"As hunters, we've always had a history of sharing the harvest."

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.