Seek One’s 'The Venison Project' Feeds Thousands Through Birmingham Event

Seek One’s Kendall Golightly and Conor Slewitzke talk with the attendees of the Doe Day event at Marks Outdoors. (Image by Stephanie Mallory)

Hunters decked out in camo and big smiles gathered at Marks Outdoors in Vestavia, Alabama, last Saturday night to celebrate, but it wasn’t the holidays that brought them together. While their Christmas spirit was on display, their true joy came from knowing they were helping to feed thousands of needy people in the community with the deer meat they harvested and donated through The Venison Project, founded by the Seek One team.

The event held at Marks Outdoors on December 7 is the second of four “Doe Day” events that are part of The Venison Project—a non-profit initiative dedicated to uniting the hunting community and supporting local communities in need with venison harvested by hunters.

Around 100 people gathered at Marks Outdoors for the Doe Day event, which was limited to those who provided a deer for donation through one of three deer processors participating in the program. Those who had not donated a deer could get in with a $50 ticket, while kids under 12 were free. One hundred percent of the ticket sales for the Doe Day events go toward the initiative.

The Venison Project partnered with Prong Creek Farms, South’s Finest Deer Processing, and Alan’s Deer Processing in the Birmingham area to process the deer for donation.

Local hunters donated 30 deer for the Birmingham event, resulting in 750 pounds of meat, which will provide 3,750 meals to help alleviate hunger in the community. Manna Missions, Christian Service Missions and Food for Our Journey will distribute the meat to those who suffer from food insecurity in the Birmingham area.

Around 100 hunters gathered at the Doe Day event to raise money and provide meat to the needy in the Birmingham area. (Photo by Stephanie Mallory)

Attendees at the Saturday night event enjoyed chili, beverages, live music, and the camaraderie of like-minded hunters. They also had the opportunity to meet and hang out with Seek One’s Drew Carroll and Kendall Golightly.

“We’re giving back to the community and to the people in need,” Golightly said. “All of those attending the event tonight are here to help those in need. You can’t get anything better than that, especially around the holidays.”

He said the Seek One team started the Venison Project because they recognized the need and wanted to use their platform for good.

“It’s hard for homeless shelters to source the protein they need to feed the hungry in their communities,” Golightly said. “We saw that we were not only able to help manage the deer herds around metro areas, such as Atlanta, Nashville, and Birmingham, but we were able to utilize that venison to help serve the needy through ministries, such as the Salvation Army.”

Warren Brooks, an avid deer hunter and a Birmingham district attorney, attended the event where he said he had a wonderful time mingling with fellow deer hunters and talking with some of the Seek One team about their passion for hunting and caring for those in need.

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“I believe in serving others and trying to help people in need,” Brooks said. “I knew some of the people who hunt with the Seek One team, so when I heard about The Venison project, I wanted to find a way to support them. Birmingham is a tough place. I’ve seen the numbers of homeless people in this city who struggle with drug addiction and so many other problems. They’re in and out of homeless shelters. It’s a sad situation. The Venison Project is a great way to help those who are suffering. I especially enjoyed talking to the Seek One guys about The Venison Project and their plans to expand it and make it even better. Plus, the venison chili was great. I even asked for the recipe.”

Seek One Co-Founder Drew Carroll explained that The Venison Project technically began in 2021, when the Seek One team and a few friends began donating deer meat from their hunts.

“We originally started partnering with a few processors in Atlanta,” Carroll said. “Between us and our friends, we probably donated between 30 to 50 deer. We saw that a lot of people wanted to get involved, so we started hosting a Doe Day event, where we invited more people from out of town. We did that for a couple of years. This is the first year that we’ve held public events.”

The first of the four public Doe Day events was held January 2024 in Roswell, just outside of Atlanta, Georgia. More than 200 people attended the event and donated 70 deer. The meat was distributed through the Salvation Army in Roswell.

“In years to come, our plan is to open a processor in Roswell that will be part of The Venison Project,” Carroll said. “There will be a for-sale component where people can come and process their deer, but there will also be the donation component that will serve the ministries and people in need.

“We have a couple of guys, Alex Porter and Conner Slewitzke, who are trying to get that process running through fundraising and additional efforts. There’s a huge need for it and I know that we can donate a ton of venison to ministries in the Atlanta area with just that one location.”

Attendees of the Doe Day event listed to good music, enjoyed free beverages and dined on delicious venison chili during The Venison Project Doe Day Event at Marks Outdoors (Photo by Stephanie Mallory)

In addition to the Doe Days, Carroll said some of their team drove up to Asheville, North Carolina, to feed the Hurricane Helene victims. “They set up a tent and cooked chili and distributed the meals themselves,” Carroll said. “We want to do more of that. We want to give opportunities for people to come with us to hand out meals. We are hoping to have volunteer day opportunities soon.”

Alex Porter, operating partner for The Venison Project, said they just recently held a Doe Day event in Franklin, Tennessee and there’s an upcoming event in Roswell Georgia on January 11, which is a free event. “The goal for those two events is to donate 10,000 pounds of meat,” Porter said. “We appreciate the financial commitment Realtree has made to The Venison Project and all of the hunters, organizations, processors and ministries that have worked with us. Realtree’s donation has given us the opportunity to feed thousands of people.”

If you’d like to join the Seek One team and fellow hunters in a community-driven effort to alleviate hunger, you can purchase tickets for a Doe Day event here or donate to The Venison Project, by clicking here.