The annual Yelm FFA alumni fireworks boaoth does more than just sell fireworks. Each year, the organization uses the funds raised to support the FFA through scholarships, sending the chapter to the state and national conventions and providing funds for annual projects and events.
Ira Holman, with Yelm’s FFA Alumni Association, has been involved with the annual fundraiser for years. He described the fireworks booth as the alumni’s biggest fundraiser of the year. In 2022, the association raised over $40,000 to give back to Yelm FFA members, and Holman added that the association has made as much as $75,000 in the past.
“Our yearly goal every year is to make enough to support the kids and keep the scholarships going. Everything on top of that we give back to the kids to pay for their events, cater food to the FFA events and get the kids to state or nationals. There’s really no set goal,” Holman said in an interview with the Nisqually Valley News on June 30. “Every penny goes back to the FFA. We’re 100% nonprofit. All of it goes to the kids to help fund all of the different events they participate in.”
Holman added the alumni association has fun doing the event each year, and described the booth’s location in the parking lot of 507 Taproom as a “prime location” for sales. He said the funds raised allow for six FFA Alumni Association scholarships provided to students at $500 each.
“It’s good for the kids,” Holman said. “The community loves us. They always come and support us. We see 90 percent of our customers come back every year, and then we get the others that are new and want to check it out or support the FFA. This community is awesome and the support has always been great.”
The Yelm FFA Alumni Association’s fireworks booth has one of the widest varieties of fireworks in Thurston County because they aren’t locked into one supplier, Holman said. This allows for the association to be able to pick and choose from a larger field of fireworks providers.
“It makes it easier to make everyone happy,” Holman said. “Our prices are competitive too. We have margins built in and we want everyone to have a fun, safe fourth, and we still want them to support the kids. We have something for everybody.”
Kristi Carney, Yelm’s FFA Alumni Association’s acting vice president, said she has three kids that have each gone through Yelm’s FFA club.
“I’ve got kids that are super shy, and FFA has definitely brought them out of their comfort zones. That’s a lot of why we do what we do. We’re just helping the kids learn and grow, and supporting them with the scholarships we provide by selling fireworks,” Carney said on June 30. “We didn’t have this opportunity when I was a kid going through school. We didn’t have FFA. We didn’t have 4H. Just seeing what it’s done with my kids, it’s a great group of people and a great organization.”
Carney added she had the opportunity to attend the FFA State Conference with the Yelm FFA Club and was really able to see what the club was all about.
“It’s become a part of what I like to do to give back to the community right now. It’s great to see the community come in and support,” Carney said. “We have lots of people that come in year after year, and it’s been great to build those friendships and relationships here at the stand.”
Kya Ramirez, a former Yelm FFA member and current Yelm FFA Alumni Association member, said she’s happy to help sell fireworks at the stand each year. She once benefited from the funds raised by Yelm’s FFA Alumni Association and she is more than willing to give back to current members.
“It’s one of my favorite events of the entire year. I love helping the community and mostly our FFA kids, considering I was once one of them,” Ramirez said on June 30. “ I know how much they can benefit from this.”
Though Ramirez is a student-athlete at Saint Martin’s University in Lacey, she actively participates in Yelm FFA Alumni events. After all of her involvement over the years with the club, she’s thankful to be surrounded by a community that cares about FFA.
“It feels so great to have the community rally around us,” Ramirez added. “We have yearly customers that are always out here, and it’s so fun seeing the community come together to support Yelm FFA.”
Several current Yelm FFA members were present on June 30 and were actively promoting the sale on East Yelm Avenue by hoisting signs.
Mara Ottman, an incoming senior at Yelm High School, said the FFA Club’s officers will have a retreat to discuss what the funds will be used to pay for.
“Things we’ve done in the past were leadership lockins, ice cream socials and it’s also paid members’ dues so they can be a part of FFA,” Ottman said. “It also helps with fundraising for going to state. The alumni helps give kids money so that they can go to events like state.”
Aurora Keller, an incoming junior at Yelm High School, has been involved with Yelm’s FFA Club since her freshman year at the school.
“I’ve learned that if you join a new organization or club, that you can make friends really easily. That’s what I’ve discovered in my time with the FFA,” Keller said. “Just standing out here and having a good time might encourage our students at the high school to join the FFA. The more people the better.”
William Icenorggle, an incoming sophomore, described his experience in Yelm FFA as the best experience he’s had in high school so far. Though he joined in May, late in the school year, he said he’s had nothing but fun and met many interesting and friendly people.
