In the deepest recess of freezers across Southwest Louisiana, buried under the gifted fruitcake, the no longer identifiable casserole and forgotten hot dog buns lies a collective abundance of pork, deer, beef, turkey, chicken, fish, shrimp and sausage that some folks might have forgotten, especially folks who enjoy hunting and fishing and can’t possibly cook and eat all they harvest before the next hunting and fishing season begins.   

Plan to get it out of there. Purge the pantry  as well. Sunday, Aug. 18, 1 p.m.–4 p.m. is the annual Clean Out the Freezer and Pantry Day, sponsored by Sportsmen for the Hungry, in affiliation with Hunters for the Hungry.

Bring donations to the Pathology Laboratory parking lot located at 830 West Bayou Pines Drive in Lake Charles. A drive-thru, drop-off service will be provided. When dropping off donations, participants are asked to use The Pathology Laboratory parking lot entrance on Lake Street for convenience and efficiency.

Frozen fish and meat and other foods such as rice, potatoes, vegetables and fresh produce will be accepted.

“We take everything to Abraham’s Tent,” said George Parat. He has been involved in hunting and fishing for over 60 years. He has supported this cause for over 20 years.

The annual collection started thanks to the efforts of the late Dr. John Foret, Parat said,

Pearl Cole, Abraham’s Tent director, feeds around an average of 200 people a day.

Around the first of the month when people have their checks and food stamps, we might feed fewer people, but when it gets down to the 20th of the month, the number goes up, she said.

She has seen an uptick in the number of people who need help with food and meals since inflation has driven up the price of the basics, utilities, food and fuel.

“Sometimes I will have someone come in and say, Ms. Pearl, I have this and I have that, I was just wondering if I might get a bag of rice from you to finish off what I need for the meal,” said Cole.

“Generally everything is labeled and dated that is donated, but I know that meat that might be slightly freezer burned is trimmed and used. Some people bring whole iceboxes and it doesn’t go to waste.”

“A lot of people forget things in their freezer,” Cole said. Area hunters and fishers are a really good source for meats. Other people may still have last year’s turkey or ham. We look forward to having it.”

When food is donated, Cole and her staff start separating and generating ideas for meals. She looks forward to the deer sausage. Fish donations go into a court bouillon. The turkeys might be cut up and cooked down to be served up with some gravy.

On Friday, Abraham’s Tent served okra and sausage over rice, a real treat. Okra production is down this year because of drought and heat followed by heavy rainfall.

“I’ve been blessed,” she said. “They can’t get seconds until 12:15,” she said. “You should have seen the people who stayed hoping to get more.”