Volunteers provide meat for food bank

MOSES LAKE - Members of a local program that provides meat from poached animals to the Moses Lake Food Bank was honored at Tuesday's Moses Lake City Council meeting.

Three men, Andy Martin, Tony Koziol and Ernie Lang, have given countless volunteer hours skinning, boning, grinding and packaging hundreds of pounds of deer meat during the past several years for the Columbia Basin Meat Salvage Program. The meat comes from animals found poached by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and animals who die trapped in the irrigation canal, said Christopher Anderson, captain with Fish and Wildlife.

"When I came here 15 years ago, we had no way of disposing of animals that were either stuck in canals or poached," said Anderson. "These guys stepped forward and now we have an active food bank."

Anderson said more than 240 illegally caught fish were seized by Fish and Wildlife and the three men processed the meat to donate to the food bank. The program has saved the food bank hundreds of dollars and has significantly helped fill the need to provide a protein source to clients.

"What a community is, is each one of us having special skills and talents that we can bring to the table so our neighbors can eat," said Scott Kilpatrick, financial manager with the food bank. "And you have exemplified bringing your skills and talents to our table. Because of that, you've brought a lot of meat to the table for people who otherwise couldn't afford it."

The exact amount of meat donated is unknown, but the program has donated as much as 1,250 pounds of deer meat in a year, saving anywhere from $1,000 to $3,100, depending on the year. The program also salvages fish, geese, turkeys and ducks as well as occasional elk and moose. The three volunteers were presented with buck knives.