Our Founders

...David was employed as general manager of the Society of St. Andrew (another nonprofit feeding organization) up until 1993. The primary program of that group is to salvage and distribute produce on a nationwide basis. In 1991, he discovered a "Hunters for the Hungry" type program operating in Texas. It seemed to be a functional concept and so David set off to establish a similar program in his home state of Virginia. After two years of explosive growth the decision was made to create a separate organization to concentrate on expanding the Hunters for the Hungry program. In January of 1993, Laura Newell-Furniss and David Horne established the present organization.

David is 1974 graduate of Washington & Lee University. He and his wife, Debbie (herself a successful hunter), are very involved in outdoor recreation. David's involvement with Hunters for the Hungry has provided opportunities for involvement in a wide variety of outdoor organizations and civic groups including: Board of directors- Virginia Wildlife Crimeline; State Field Director- Virginia Deer Hunters Association; member- Big Island Ruritan Club; Virginia long range deer management planning committee; member- Virginia Outdoor Writers Association; life member- North American Hunting Club; Hunter Education Instructor -VDG&IF; and member- Pope & Young Club.

In early 2002 David lost a long battle to cancer. He will be sorely missed. His wife Debbie has stepped in to work with Laura and the work of Hunters for the Hungry continues. Go HERE to read a tribute to David Horne. 

Laura Newell-Furniss enjoys helping others. She's been the assistant director of Hunters for the Hungry since the programs birth in 1991. Prior to teaming up with David Horne, Laura was employed as the office manager for The Society of St. Andrew (a national feeding program), a teacher at The Old Dominion Job Corps Center, and a teacher's aide at The Florence Crittenton Center (a residential facility for emotionally disturbed teenage girls). Laura holds a Bachelors degree in Special Education from Lynchburg College, and an Associates degree in Child Development from Musingum Area Technical College in Ohio. She's married to a wonderful person, Butch Furniss and the couple have a delightful daughter named Danielle. When not working with Hunters for the Hungry, Laura enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, exercising, volunteering at her daughter's school and peer counseling.

According to Laura: "My interest in the Hunters for the Hungry program comes from growing up in poverty and being taught early on - waste not want not. Growing up in a rural area my father and brothers provided a lot of food for the table through hunting. We ate a wide variety of wild game and were thankful to have it. It means a lot to me to be involved with a program that is providing food to people who are going through tough economic times. The hunters we work with are very generous in providing venison. The struggle for us remains in raising the funds to cover the processing fees on the donated venison."