A local non-profit that aims to provide holiday season meals to local families, appealed to Yelm City Councilors on Tuesday, Sept. 3, as it looked to secure funds for the program in 2025.
Bounty for Families representatives Andrew Kollar and Teri Melone highlighted the importance of the non-profit organization’s Gift of Gobble event at the meeting.
According to Kollar, the organization provided 300 families with meals for Thanksgiving in 2023, at roughly $45 per person, generating a cost of $13,500 last year.
Bounty for Families had money leftover from the fundraiser last year, and requested the city budget $12,000 for 2025 rather than the full amount. The Yelm City Council will use its discretion in whether or not local organizations that took the podium during the Sept. 3 meeting will receive their funding requests.
“Through the Gift of Gobble, we serve 100 families. It’s 100 families from the Gift of Gobble, plus the 200 from the school,” Kollar said. “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.”
Kollar added that with support from local businesses, Bounty for Families has been able to supply Thanksgiving meals for 14 years. The organization has worked hand in hand with several local businesses to create a cost-efficient way for the operation to run.
“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,” Kollar said. “There’s a lot of people in this room that helped put these bags together, and we do that all at Grocery Outlet.”
Melone added that the local businesses made it possible to reduce the cost of the program as much as possible when it comes down to it. She said Grocery Outlet has done “an amazing job” of providing bulk rates to the non-profit organization in addition to allowing Bounties for Families to use the warehouse area.
“Walmart has also contributed quite a bit with donations of items and materials, and then it comes from our community. Obee Credit Union, I swear, they must shut down their business because they fill the room, stuff the bags, get everything ready and deliver it for us,” Melone said. “This is locally driven. This is by our businesses, by people who live in our community and are for the students and families in our community.”
Melone, a Bounty for Families board member, said Bounty for Families is seeking funding for the program throughout the month of September. In October, it will begin to identify families and begin to order and store food. The packaging and distribution to families will occur between Nov. 25 and Nov. 27.
“For the school district, we have our counselors work with the families in our schools. We get nominations and referrals as the councils identify them. We try to do about 20 families per school, give or take, and if they don’t have them we’ll give to the other schools,” Melone said. “We shoot for about 200 [families in the district], and based on the enrollment and the schools that are in the boundaries of Yelm city. As they go through the middle schools and high schools, we are at about 50% of the students that are Yelm residents that would be served by this.”
Melone, Yelm school district communications director and community relations rep, said the organization is considering how to serve families in the Yelm community that “may fall in a gap.” She said Bounty for Families aims to serve families that may not qualify for other services but also may not have the resources to celebrate during the holiday season.
To learn more about the organization, visit bountyforfamilies.org.
