ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - Georgia’s Hunters for the Hungry program has been around for more than three decades.

Since the program’s inception in 1993, The Georgia Department of Natural Resources said hunters have donated over 375,000 pounds of ground venison.

Ted Will is the director of the Wildlife Resources Division of the Department of Natural Resources. He said this year they’ve expanded their goal in part to a $300,000 program investment by the state.

“It’s going to provide 140,000 lbs of venison and to our program. That’s a 500% increase from where we were before,” said Will. “It’s a win-win for our state. We are so blessed to have a great natural resource like our deer population and this program just provides another benefit of feeding those in need.”

Hunters can donate their harvest to participating processors . They can process and package the meat at no cost to the hunter and donate that meat to local food banks and churches.

Jeremy Harris and his wife Jill run Harris Meats in Homer, Georgia. This is their first year participating.

They recently dropped off 300 lbs of venison to a local church just before the Thanksgiving Holidays.

“A lot of people can get bread, they can get vegetables, they can even get snack cakes and other perishable items, but the meat is one thing that’s been missing,” said Harris.

They’re already filling up more baskets with donations. They say meat from one deer can feed 40 people. It’s a lean and versatile protein.

Jill said before they opened up the butcher market in 2015, deer meat was the family’s go-to.

“You can do spaghetti, easy peasy. Cheeseburgers, meatloaf. There’s a variety of things you could do with the meat. Anything you cook with beef you can use the deer meat for,” said Jill.

Processors are paid $2.50 to cover some of the processing costs. DNR is looking for more processors to take part in the program to meet the increasing demand for deer meat.

“We’re not getting rich on it, but we get to build a lot of connections. When we go out, we see people who are getting meat that was supplied not just by Harris Meats, but it was also supplied by deer hunters,” said Harris.

Hunting season ends in January. If you don’t hunt, you can always donate to the Georgia Wildlife Federation. Just $15 is enough to cover 40 meals.