MeatEater Gives is a company-wide initiative that works to organize, facilitate, capture, and expand our contributions toward the causes and efforts most important to our company and its employees.
We are committed to protecting the rights of hunters and anglers while enhancing wildlife resources and public access to America's woods, waters, and mountains. We strive to encourage a strong conservation ethic among future generations of hunters and anglers; we support our veterans and first responders, and we help our local communities through the support of initiatives that adhere to the basic principles captured in the MeatEater Creed.
We support the preservation of and access to the natural world. We are committed to conserving our resources and ensuring continued accessibility to those resources. We’re actively working towards increasing public access for every hunter, angler, and lover of wild places.
We're dedicated to youth empowerment and continued education and mentorship to ensure outdoor opportunities are accessible for all that wish to pursue them.
We are grateful for the servicemen and women who protect our country and we aim to support veterans and first responders, especially when it comes to their connection with the natural world.
We strive to give back to the communities where we work and operate.
We are working to give back on an ongoing basis via annual initiatives that support conversation, education, veterans and first responders, and our local communities. Each of these initiatives makes an impact via boots on the ground or by facilitating donations to organizations and programs that align with our mission.
2021 $330,000 Dollars facilitated*
2022 $690,000 Dollars facilitated*
2023 $750,000 Dollars facilitated*
Janis Putelis and Cory Calkins demonstrated field dressing for a group of youth bowhunters as part of the JCPF bowhunters safety outdoor skills camp in 2023. “We led a field dressing demonstration to thirty 12- to 14-year-old campers at the Skills Camp put on by the Jack Creek Preserve Foundation. It was a 2-hour class. We covered field dressing in the first hour, using a domestically raised ewe. The kids’ favorite part was passing around the heart and prodding the guts. We also discussed hunter ethics, and then we skinned and removed a leg off of the ewe. More than half of the kids were doing this as part of their MT bowhunter education class. Great staff, great organization; and what I really liked is how all the activities include discussions around hunting and fishing being a big part of conservation.” - Janis Putelis
In tandem with the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, MeatEater has raffled off a Michigan Turkey Hunt for the past three years to help raise money for TRCP and its conservation efforts. TRCP & MeatEater raised $112,000 in 2023 for TRCP while raffling off a Colorado AND Michigan turkey hunt with MeatEater Crew members Steven Rinella and Janis Putelis. You can read more about previous winner’s experiences here and learn more about TRCP’s work by clicking this link. Our founder, Steven Rinella, sits on the board for TRCP and it has been a meaningful and impactful partnership.
The First Lite crew spent an evening marking fences near sage grouse breeding grounds to reduce collision mortality. When these birds fly into leks in the early morning in low light conditions they have trouble seeing fences with sometimes fatal results. Plastic flags help the grouse perceive and avoid barbed wire, helping to conserve this iconic western game bird.
Every fall, the First Lite crew takes an afternoon off to plant sagebrush seedling on hillside degraded by invasive annual grasses. This improves habitat for deer and elk and gives our employees a chance to get out and get their hands dirty in the name of conservation.
As part of a 3-year-long Blue Mountain calf mortality study, Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife biologists have been capturing and collaring calves and monitoring their movements, and survival rates as they document the source of mortality for elk calves in the area. Jason Phelps volunteered with the WDFW to help with the elk calf mortality study by getting down in the dirt and collaring the calves himself! This is important work to better understand and sustain elk populations in the state.
Supporting veterans and first responders is core to our philanthropic mission and we are so thankful to partner with one of the many great local organizations that supports veterans healing and spending time in the great outdoors.
FHF and MeatEater joined forces to present at Hunt for Purpose at WQW. Hunt for Purpose is an intensive, 6-month pursuit to support veterans in planning, preparing for, and executing a successful archery elk hunt in Montana’s backcountry. Along the way, six participants will learn the basics of elk hunting and backcountry survival, improve their physical fitness, and work alongside fellow Warriors and loved ones toward a common goal. We host a Hunt For Purpose Sayonara Dinner where our employees cooked recipes out of the new cookbook for dinner for about 35 people. MeatEater and FHF donated FHF gear, MeatEater hot sauce, ME stickers and donated the Warriors the new Outdoor Cookbook!
In 2024, members of MeatEater and FHF were able to join in a secret mission with The Station Foundation, a Veteran organization that helps the Special Operations Community. The Station Foundation helps participants navigate the rough terrain of transition and reintegration back to civilian life. Offering experience, strength and hope to individuals as they identify and translate strengths to new arenas. Our team joined a group of Veterans with their kids on a secret mission and hiked up Ramshorn Peak. The kids were the real troopers hiking 10 miles through mud and snow to get to the peak at 10,000 ft elevation! We cannot wait to continue to work with them in the future.
DSD is working with DU and Alaska Department of Fish and Game on a radio collar project for Lesser Canada Goose. They will be using our Lesser and Cackler Decoys to lure birds to the capture area and net them. The program helps identify migratory patterns, survival, and population, It also helps point out key areas of habitat for the birds in Alaska and down the west coast. DU and ADFG will use the information to help improve habitat in these critical areas.
DSD's auctioning of the Limited 25th anniversary hen raised 2K, plus just shy of 2k from the sale of the limited hens to Donate to Wild Turkey studies in several states for a total donation of $3985.51.
In 2018 First Lite employees kicked off Brush for Bucks in collaboration with Hushin. Since 2018, we've been working to rehabilitate winter range in Southern Idaho degraded by fire and invasive cheatgrass. To date, we've planted more than 50,000 native shrub seedlings across hundreds of acres. You can learn more about it here.
Brush for Bucks 2023 was a resounding success. In collaboration with Hushin, Idaho Fish and Game, 143 volunteers, agency personnel and hunting industry folks planted 30,000 sagebrush and bitterbrush seedlings for an important big game winter range degraded by fire and invasive grasses. Thanks to successful event and raffle ticket sales and a big donation from MTN Ops, we were able to raise $27,387 for the initiative. This year we brought on the Mule Deer Foundation as Brush for Buck’s conservation partner.
Current issues we are working to fight against are; landlocked properties that would otherwise be accessible to the public, creating accessible opportunities for the next generation of hunters and anglers, supporting our veterans, and giving back to our local communities. We are working to make additional impact this year by launching several new charitable opportunities for our workforce and audience to participate in through the MeatEater Inc. family of brands.
MeatEater's Land Access Initiative is exactly what it sounds like, an initiative designed to raise money so we can find properties that will provide more access for regular folks to hunt and fish.
In 2020, the Rinella-Putelis 2020 Campaign and other Land Access Initiative fundraising efforts successfully raised enough money for us to help keep Shiloh Pond open to the public forever--see that story below.
In 2021, we opened the MeatEater Auction House of Oddities to further our fundraising goals through a donation-based online auction that curated a truly odd mix of items. Donations from our fans and friends flooded in. Such as artwork, hand forged knives, a guided fishing trip, bear and racoon baculums, and even a signed guitar from country artist Luke Combs. We cannot thank our amazing fans and friends enough for participating in our Auction House of Oddities. It was an incredible success and a mammoth-sized step towards increasing public land access for all.
Auction House was revamped and in total $158,000 was raised to support LAI projects.
The Working for Wildlife Tour, led by Mark Kenyon, highlighted volunteer conservation events across the country focused on improving fish and wildlife habitat with on-the-ground projects. In 2023 Mark collaborated with the National Deer Association, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers, and MUCC on six events involving hundreds of volunteers working on everything from small game habitat creation to trash clean-up, duck box building, invasive species removal, and acorn collection. Employees Pierson Scarborough and Christine Sawicki joined Mark in Idaho for an aspen restoration project in the summer!
The tour continues in 2024 — stay tuned for event dates and locations and to learn how you can get involved in the year ahead.
MeatEater Trivia, “the only game show where conservation always wins,” lived by its motto in '23, donating just under $50k to various conservation orgs across the map. While we all love to compete in the studio or from afar, the impact of MeatEater Trivia contributions has been a meaningful byproduct!
MeatEater's Trivia show was introduced in 2022, giving employees and podcast guests alike an opportunity to compete in the name of conservation. The winner of each round donates their $500+ prize to a conservation organization of their choosing. Below are the orgs that received MeatEater donations in 2023. Another round of donations was made during the MeatEater Live Podcast Tour where OnX partnered with us, sponsoring an additional $20,000 to various organizations. On top of that, the MeatEater Trivia Board Game launched in 2023 and contributed $1 per game sold to various conservation projects.
Listen to MeatEater trivia, purchase the board game, and follow along to give back to conservation!
For appearances, speaking engagements, or charitable requests, please submit your inquiry via our MeatEater Gives Request Form below or click here.
Join us in our commitment to a stronger future by making a donation to the organizations that MeatEater proudly supports. You can learn more about our Round Up for Conservation Donation Program by clicking the Donate button.
