Hunting to feed the hungry

Crisis Bread Basket receives many donations from the locals of Wimberley as they look to feed families in need.

While many locals donate canned goods or even fresh vegetables, one Wimberley local decided to donate another way.

Dave Boyd decided to donate deer venison to Crisis Bread Basket from when he hunts on his local deer lease near Llano and Mason.

Boyd first got involved with Crisis Bread Basket through his work with the community garden.

“I’m a member of the community garden here in Wimberley,” Boyd said. “We dedicate three of our vegetable beds to Crisis. We grow vegetables for Crisis, and we take the vegetables over there every week. That is how I became acquainted with the organization and some of the people in it.”

Being a deer hunter, not only was donating the venison a way to help the community, but for Boyd it was also a lesson he could teach to the next generation.

“Not long after that, as a way to model and demonstrate to my grandson,” Boyd said. “When we hunt, I tell him ‘Every year the first deer goes to Crisis’ . It was a way for very young people that are privileged to learn that there are other folks that go to bed hungry. Now that he is much older, focusing on fast cars and girls, I’ve continued it, and I’m going to keep doing it. It is a great idea, and it’s such an opportunity for dads and grandads to easily demonstrate to their children or grandchildren what it means to try and help people who are really hungry. That is how it started with me, and I’m going to keep doing it ‘till I quit hunting.”

It wasn’t just the meat Boyd was concerned about. But also making sure the meat he donated was just as good as what he eats at home.

“They’ve been very happy to receive,” Boyd said. “It’s very important for the meat to be processed and packaged. It’s important to them that they know who the processor was and when it was processed. A lot of people believe that they can donate their leftovers, but to me it’s the matter of ‘First Fruits.’ I don’t want people to take a package of meat out of the freezer that doesn’t look any different than the one that I take out of my freezer. I don’t want them getting second best. It’s a matter of dignity.”

For Joe Morris, the president of the board of directors at Crisis Bread Basket, having fresh food for CBB is an important part of their goal statement.

“In our mission of serving the folks, we want to make sure that we provide good, quality and safe food,” Morris said.

“It is important that when folks are donating meat or venison that it should have gone to a processing company, and that the company is noted on there with the address and date. It’s helpful when it comes in one or two pound packaging so we can donate it to families, but it really is about providing safe, quality, and well handled food to the folks that need a food distribution.”

On top of the fact the food is fresh when donated, the ability to have a variety of meat for people to choose from helps immensely.

“Normally we have a selection of just chicken and ground beef,” Morris said. “Whenever someone is able to provide venison and the people have a choice, they are really appreciative of that. They love having a selection with their choice of meat.”

After Boyd shoots the deer, he takes the meat to Granzin’s Meat Market in New Braunfels where they prepare the ground meat for him.

He then calls Crisis about the meat and stores it in his freezer until Crisis is ready for the donation.

But Crisis isn’t the only place Boyd donates his meat to.

“I’m a member of St. Stephens Episcopal Church,” Boyd said. “We just started a program and put in a big freezer in our church. We are going to start the same thing and then start donating venison or wild game once the process starts to be distributed to the Catholic Church who then distributes it to Amigos Jesus.”

Ultimately for Boyd, the thought that children and families around the area go to bed hungry drives him to do what he does.

“The vision of a child going to bed hungry,” Boyd said, “And compared to families who throw out their Thanksgiving leftovers cause they couldn’t eat them fast enough, there is something real bad down there. We just need to bring them closer together.”

For more information on Crisis Bread Basket, visit www.crisisbreadbasket.com.