BLOOMINGTON - A Christian outdoor group and a Gridley meat processing plant have partnered with the Midwest Food Bank to distribute meat to needy families.

Unlike other hunter-based programs that focus solely on donated venison, Eastview Christian Sportsmen based at Eastview Christian Church in Normal and Gridley Meats are building on an effort the processing plant launched earlier to ship donated pork to where it's needed most.

Gridley Meats also has received a few donated cattle to process for the food bank.

Several years ago, brothers Steve, Stan, Scott and Brent Ringger, who own Gridley Meats, came up with the idea to slaughter low-value pigs from their family hog farm and give the meat to food pantries in towns along the U.S. 24 corridor. The animals would yield less than market value due to low weight or other factors, Steve Ringger said.

The family eventually linked up with Midwest Food Bank, which supplies more than 500 food pantries from Illinois and parts of Indiana and Iowa.

The idea grew after the Ringgers contacted other pork producers. Several are associated with the Ringgers' Apostolic Christian Church networks, he said. Shipments of one-pound packages of ground pork and sausage from Gridley Meats to the food bank total about 3,000 pounds a month.

The Ringgers and Quinton Koch, assistant director of Eastview Christian Sportsman, hope that figure grows to at least 4,000 pounds a month with white-tail deer season now underway. Hunters can donate meat from their surplus harvest.

Koch said his organization also is enlisting help from other lockers involved in a venison-only program the church group sponsored last year. To date, four others have agreed to take part: Bloomington Meats, Bittner's Eureka Locker, Heinkel Packing in Decatur and Echo Valley in Bartonville.

Koch said he was moved to become involved after learning how many people rely on local food pantries to stretch their incomes, even in affluent McLean County.

"You don't think about people being hungry (here)," Koch said. "But, there are a lot of single people and married couples who have two children living on minimum wage. A lot of times I see single people making decisions about whether 'I pay the medical bills or the electricity or do I feed my family?' If we can help them get by through tough times, they can use the capital they have to meet other needs. … The need is far, far greater than I ever imagined. It is unbelievable how much food goes out of that food bank."

In the past, the Gridley Apostolic Christian Church and others have donated money to process the meat at cost, Steve Ringger said. Eastview Christian Sportsmen hope to enlist corporate and individual sponsors to donate up to $60,000 to cover the expenses. State Farm Insurance Cos. already has agreed to help, Koch said.

The cost to process one deer is $70, Koch said. That investment feeds about 200 people, he said.

All donated money goes to the program; none is kept to cover administration costs, he said.

Meat is the hardest part of a well-balanced diet to supply, added David Kieser, founder of the Midwest Food Bank.

In four years, the food bank grew from a small volunteer operation to distribute more than $1 million in food from its warehouse at 1703 S. Veterans Parkway.

How to help

- Farmers should contact Steve Ringger at (309) 747-2120 to donate domestic animals;

- Hunters can contact Gridley Meats, Bloomington Meats, Bittner's Eureka Locker, Heinkel Packing in Decatur and Echo Valley in Bartonville. Tell them it's for the Eastview Christian Sportsmen program;

- Donations for meat processing can be sent to the Midwest Food Bank at 1703 S. Veterans Parkway, Bloomington. Make a note on the memo line the money is for the program. Contact the food bank at (309) 663-5350.

- Visit www.midwestfoodbank.org