Yelm fundraiser for local causes hits five-figure goal

The Sip, Support and Celebrate Fundraiser lived up to its name Friday evening, July 11, as guests gathered for all three in the courtyard of the RE/MAX Country real estate office in Yelm.

More importantly, the mixer raised over five figures for three local causes: Yelm Dollars for Scholars, Yelm Community Schools Special Education and the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Fund.

The fundraiser dinner was provided by Jerk Juicy BBQ and Red Lantern, and featured additional items from Masonry Cafe and desserts from The Shiplap Shop & Coffee House. 507 Taproom and Filling Station contributed beverages. Sponsors included TwinStar Credit Union and RE/MAX Country.

Thirty-five people attended the sit-down dinner. Notable guests included Chris and Gary Warnock, Mayor Joe DePinto, mayoral candidates JW Foster and Dustin Stephan, Yelm City Council candidate Griselda Arias and Yelm Cemetery Commissioner candidate Angela Taylor. Yelm Rotary Club’s new president, Derrick Platt, and immediate past president, Larry Hanson, also attended the event.

Wyatt Mendel, the Yelm real estate agent who organized the gathering, said that $9,000 of the funds raised came from the 90 tickets sold. One of those ticketholders, Arias, told the Nisqually Valley News she was the first to purchase a ticket. She said Mendel delivered it to her personally to thank her.

It’s been a six-month journey for Mendel to see his project come to fruition. Just a day before the event, Mendel posted on Facebook that he had put “nearly 200 hours” into organizing the fundraiser. On July 11, Mendel expressed his appreciation for the people and businesses who helped support him.

“A lot of the people who showed up half an hour early helped get me across the finish line, so I’m super grateful for that,” Mendel told the Nisqually Valley News. “Working with all the businesses has been great.” He added that Bill DeVore, owner of the 507 Taproom and Filling Station, donated beer and wine for the evening, free of charge.

Mendel presented two awards throughout the night. Derrick Platt was given an achievement award plaque for his dedicated and loyal service to the Yelm community. Yelm Community Schools Superintendent Chris Woods also received an achievement award for dedicated and loyal service.

During the evening, a 50-50 raffle was held, with the winner set to receive half of the funds raised. That winner, Linda Powell, donated her money back into the pot, bringing the total raffle funds to $240.

In a conversation with the Nisqually Valley News back in April, Mendel said he wanted to create an event where people could “let go of politics” and focus on the town’s most vulnerable.

On Friday, all three mayoral candidates attended — and donated silent auction items for the event.

The list of donated items included a tour of the Thurston County Coroner’s Office courtesy of Coroner Gary Warnock, a ride-along with Sheriff Derek Sanders, a Seattle Mariners tailgating kit, a certified first aid course from JW Foster, and gift certificates from YARD and Quark & Odo’s Escape Room Experience, businesses owned, respectively, by Stephan and DePinto.

“I appreciate that he’s doing this for a good cause, for multiple different causes,” DePinto said on Friday, speaking about the event’s three beneficiaries, Yelm Dollars for Scholars, Yelm Community Schools Special Education and the Sgt. Justin Norton Memorial Fund. “They’re all wonderful, they’re good causes, and he’s trying to bring the community together.”
DePinto said it’s a positive thing whenever more community members and different groups get together and combine for the better good of the community.

“I’m appreciative of him doing that,” DePinto said, adding that the Yelm community “comes together for our own.”

After the event, Mendel told the Nisqually Valley News that Mark Porter won the “biggest donor award” for the evening with a last-minute donation.

The organizer said he plans on doing the event again next year, “but with a lot of lessons learned from doing this in Yelm for the first time.” He also intends to add food from The Local, a woman-owned business headed by Candice Rambo.

As for total funds raised?

“The final official tally is $10,975, which I will round up personally to an even $11,000,” Mendel wrote on July 13. “So each organization will be receiving a $3,666.67 check from me tomorrow.”

According to Mendel, TwinStar Credit Union will also be making a donation to the fundraiser, which is in addition to the $11,000 already raised.