Food Bank, Thrift Shop and Clothing Bank
624 Crystal Springs Rd. NW, P.O. Box 5320, Yelm, Washington 98597
Phone: 360.458.7000 Fax: 360.458.4226
Food Bank |
The food bank is open Thursdays from 9:30 am to 12:15 pm. Please bring bags with you for taking your groceries home. Our primary service area is the region located within the Yelm and Rainier School Districts and the Nisqually Tribal Reservation, but we can also assist you if you live outside this area. There is a good chance, though, that there may be a food bank closer in proximity to you, making your visit more convenient, so please call 211 to find a food bank closer to where you live. People who come need to park, no earlier than 9 a.m. on Crystal Springs Road, after the intersection of Edwards/Crystal Springs/Coates Road intersection and crosswalks, where there is legal parking. Since there is enough food for everyone, no one needs to come early, or park in the school zone, where there are 14 no-parking signs posted. Please just wait until there is legal parking at the top of the hill, after the intersection of Edwards/Crystal Springs/Coates Road, and park there. Please do not come earlier than 9 am because everyone will receive food, and there is no reason/advantage to come earlier than 9 am. The food bank is a drive-through food bank, and volunteers place food into clients’ vehicles. Clients may self-select to place their food in their own vehicle, if they desire. Walk-through clients should have a plan for how to take their food bank to where they live (a wagon, catch a ride, and the like). Clients may not enter the building, and must wait in their vehicles in legal parking areas on Crystal Springs Road. While driving through to pick up food, please remain in your vehicle, and please stop and turn your car off if you are being loaded, or if you are behind someone who is being loaded. For the Thrift Shop: YCS is not currently accepting any donations to the thrift shop. The doors are presently closed to the public, due to the need for additional food bank warehouse space. For more contact or program information, please refer to our website Yelm Community Services For the distribution of USDA commodities, please navigate to the following link for the USDA non discrimination statement. |
Interested in picking up food for one other household?
YCS-food bank, TEFAP proxy form
People who want to pick up for another household can do this after 11 a.m., but first, a person from that household must access a form available at the agency’s website (see above), complete and sign it, and bring it by to Yelm Community Services, advising who can pick up food for them. Forms must be dropped off no later than one week before the date that food can be picked up, and forms will not be accepted on Thursdays. People who pick up for themselves and one other household only can come to the food bank beginning at 11 a.m. No one should send in more than one family to have a person pick up food for them. All food bank clients can only pick up for their own household, plus one other household, for a total of two households, and a member of each household needs to be in the vehicle.
YCS 2025 Holiday Schedule
Thursday, 12/25/2025 – No food bank, Christmas Day
Tuesday, 12/30/2025 – Food Bank, b/c closed on New Year’s Day
YCS 2026 Holiday Schedule
January 1, 2026 – state holiday, no food bank (food bank on Tuesday, 12/30/2025, 9:30-12:15).
Thanksgiving and Christmas food distributions:
Thursday, 11/19/2026, 9:30 am- 1 pm – Thanksgiving/Reg Food Distribution
Thursday, 11/26/2026, No food bank, Thanksgiving Day
Thursday, 12/17/2026, 9:30 am – 1 pm – Christmas/Regular Food Distribution
Thursday, 12/24/2026 – No food bank, Christmas Eve
Thursday, 12/31/2026, 9:30 – 1 pm, regular food bank day
Thursday, 01/07/2027, 9:30 – 1 pm, regular food bank day
Christmas Toys/Gifts, available for children birth through 12 who live in or attend school in the Yelm School District:
- 2026 Holiday Toy Program General Inquiry (watch for active link at www.yelmcommunityservices.com when it becomes live, application not available by walk-in, fax, or mail, just online) https://forms.gle/tRWnDVe3Y14Lb9fu8
- 2026 Holiday Toy Sign Up. Please note: The only way to obtain gifts is to complete the form, and submit it, and follow the instructions on the form. Calling YCS, or sending an e-mail to anyone at YCS will not result in receiving toys. Calling the school, or other organizations will not result in receiving toys from YCS. Completing the forms and submitting them is the way to begin the process to obtain toys.
Application Available 12/1/2026 9:00am – 12/5/206 5:00 pm (watch for active link when it becomes live) https://forms.gle/DDpfsTEM6oE9vtNE6 - Saturday, 12/12/2026 – last day for toy and gift drop-off
- Tuesday, 12/14/2026, Holiday Toy and gift pick up, by appointment only, beginning 9:30 a.m.
If you missed food bank or other services at Yelm Community Services, then please refer to our website, www.yelmcommunityservices.com, and bookmark it. The staff and volunteers at Yelm Community Services are not responsible for clients who see different information or dates/times on other websites that are not part of Yelm Community Service’s listing.
Please limit phone calls to agency so staff are not overloaded with phone calls, thanks!
The Yelm Community Services’ clothing bank is one of the primary programs of the agency and has been in existence since the agency was formed in 1971. Over the years, the generosity of the community resulted in the need for expanded services. The agency opened the thrift shop in February, 1990. The proceeds are used to purchase food for the food bank.
Donations to the thrift shop are tax-deductible. Please see the attached guidelines, but please rely on the guidelines from the Internal Revenue Service to fully document any charitable donation you make.
Please donate to the food bank and thrift shop. Your donations are tax-deductible.
Yelm Community Services is a nonprofit, charitable organization registered with the State of Washington, Secretary of State and the Internal Revenue Service. The organization’s federal tax I.D. is 23-7226534. Please donate directly to Yelm Community Services, where your support is turned back into help for people in need in your community.