Michigan hunters have donated deer meat to food banks for nearly two decades, but now more parts of the deer are helping communities across the state.
Ground venison has been donated to the Food Bank Council of Michigan through the state Department of Natural Resources' Hunters Feeding Program since 2007, said Joe Presgrove, program specialist.
One deer yields 160 high-protein meals, he said.
However, in the past year, deer have been used for more than just meat, he said.
"Recently we looked at different ways on how we can utilize the donated deer even more to either help people out or expand the resource a little more," Presgrove said.
These new uses include assisting in educational opportunities and keeping people warm, he said.
Last year, around 40 deer hearts were donated to Potter Park Zoo, where high school juniors and seniors used them to learn about anatomy, he said.
Students from 15 different schools across the Mid-Michigan area took part in a deer heart dissection this January, said Rebecca Morningstar, environmental educator at Potter Park Zoo.
"We were able to dissect them when we were learning about the circulatory system in our anatomy lessons," she said. "It helped reinforce and get them hands-on with that system to learn."
This partnership with the DNR is the first of its kind, and they intend to continue it this year.
Deer were also used to create 12 dozen pairs of deerskin gloves. Five dozen pairs were sent to an emergency shelter in Flint earlier this year, while seven dozen more will be sent to other shelters across the state, Presgrove said.
The DNR intends to keep searching for additional ways to use parts of donated deer.
"I do believe there's some value there where hunters can use more of the deer for other purposes," he said.