The Generous Will Be Blessed, For Sharing

Ronnie Ritter doesn’t believe in retirement. He says it isn’t biblical, and the 28,000 miles he drove on Arkansas roads last year proves the 67-year-old is no hypocrite.

“I think I will always work,” says the director of Arkansas Hunters Feeding the Hungry after dropping 660 wild-game meat sticks on a Friday afternoon in February at Malvern Elementary.

Exiting the school, Ritter excitedly shares how Ashdown Public Schools in Little River County is signing up for the program, too.

Earlier in the week, he was heading from his office in Hot Springs to Marianna when he found state Hwy. 49 outside Brinkley too icy to travel. So, he diverted south on Hwy. 79 in his Dodge 3500 truck towing a trailer and 350 pounds of venison. At a cautious 30 miles per hour for 37 miles, he arrived in Stuttgart before noon and finished the long day with two more stops at community food pantries on his way home.

The need is great in all 75 Arkansas counties and Ritter is on mission – a calling motivated by compassion. He has heard the heartbreaking stories of children hiding their snack sticks because bullies, other siblings, or even their parents, will take the food for themselves.

“One little boy says he holds the package between his mattresses when he opens it so others in the house can’t hear it being opened,” Ritter says. “He can’t let anyone in the house know or it will be taken.”

Farm Bureau Joins Crusade

Made from wild game, mostly venison, and mixed with pork, 75,959 meat sticks were distributed to schools last year in more than 50 counties. That’s up from about 40,031 when the Wild Game Snack Sticks Program started in 2018. The fiveyear total of meat sticks distributed is a whopping 338,403.

“I think this is where Farm Bureau Foundation’s matching money can help,” Ritter says. “It will help identify areas and schools we are not in and where those local contributions and matching funds can be used.”

Local contributions marked “Hunters Feeding the Hungry” are tax deductible and will be doubled to provide meat sticks for children in their area schools.