DAVENPORT, Iowa — If you're deer hunting this year, consider donating your hides to area veterans!
Elks Lodges across the state of Iowa are participating in the Iowa State Elks Leather Program. Through this, hunters may drop off their donated deer hides at their nearest participating Elks Lodge.
From there, they'll be turned into heavy-duty leather gloves for Iowa veterans in wheelchairs. Other parts of the hides will be turned into pieces of leather for veterans to turn into a variety of items including moccasins, wallets, bags and more during therapy programs.
The therapeutic kits and the gloves are distributed to Iowa veterans at no cost to them.
Last year, hunters donated more than 4,500 deer hides to lodges across Iowa. That was a nearly 600-hide increase from the previous season.
Dennis Walker, chairperson of the Iowa State Elks Leather Program joined News 8 on The Current to discuss the wide-ranging impact of these donations. According to him, they not only contribute to the overall well-being of area veterans but also help create American-based jobs.
You can watch Walker's full interview on The Current by viewing the above video.
Hunters willing to donate their hides are encouraged to contact their nearest local Elks Lodge. You can visit this website to find your closest lodge.
Here in the metro Quad Cities, the Davenport Elks Lodge has historically donated hundreds of hides. But in 2023, there's no one to run the program. Thus, the closest drop-off location to the QCA is in Cedar Rapids.
For more information, you can contact Lisa Widick at ozzywidick@gmail.com.
And tune into The Current from 4 to 5 p.m. on weekdays to catch even more live interviews impacting you, your family and your hometown as well as all of the biggest headlines of the day.
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