The Yelm Senior Center and organization Bounty for Families will receive more city-based funding in 2025 if the City Council approves the budget as presented.
Yelm Mayor Joe DePinto told Yelm city councilors that Yelm Senior Center will receive $24,000, and the Bounty for Families nonprofit will get $12,000.
The Yelm City Council will vote to make this official at the next city council meeting.
DePinto said that he and City Administrator Todd Stancil said they reached out to the organizations receiving more money to ensure they’d correctly use the funds and that taxpayer money was going to the right place. He added that the $24,000 allocated to the Yelm Senior Center is two-thirds of the organization’s budget for the year.
“My first year as mayor, we gave [Yelm Senior Center] an increase. Then the council chose to increase that. Two-thirds of their funding will be supported by the City of Yelm. The rest is made up between their membership dues and fundraisers,” DePinto said. “I think that’s a good thing. We take care of our most vulnerable and most needy in the City of Yelm, and I think this goes to a good cause.”
DePinto added that Bounty for Families, a community group that aims to cultivate a healthy community through access to nutritious foods, will receive $12,000 in funding from the city — a slight increase from past years.
The organization runs six programs that serve the Nisqually Valley region, including the Yelm Farmers Market, the Power of Produce Kids Club, the Yelm Community Garden, Gift of Gobble, Learners Without Limits and Day of Champions.
Gift of Gobble, a Thanksgiving-themed program, will feed 100 local families on Thanksgiving, according to bountyforfamilies.org.
At a Sept. 3 City Council meeting, Andrew Kollar, a Bounty for Families organizer, explained Gift of Gobble will serve 100 families, plus 200 from the school.
“How we get those families is from recommendations from friends, family, local organizations, churches, local residents, and a significant portion is also dedicated to military families in Yelm,” he said at the time. “In the last two to three years, we’ve really worked with our local businesses to reduce cost by purchasing in bulk and reducing storage costs by using the Grocery Outlet back warehouse area.”
Three other local organizations may receive funding from the City of Yelm, DePinto said. He recommended that $5,000 go to South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity, which aims to build strength, stability and self-reliance through shelter, according to its website. Another $5,000 would be awarded to Rebuilding Together Thurston County, which aims to repair homes, revitalize communities and rebuild lives throughout the county.
DePinto recommended an additional $4,000 in city funding go to Total Sports Development, an athletic skills training organization founded earlier in the year. TSD offers classes in football, cheerleading, track wrestling, basketball, baseball and wrestling to athletes of different ages.
“I know it’s not everybody’s perfect slate, but I think this represents the council as a whole with what you all wanted,” DePinto said of the allocations.
