Kyle Yates, service center coordinator for the Salvation Army Tehachapi Service Center, told listeners on the Tehachapod podcast that the center operates a food pantry, runs a free after‑school program for students in grades 6–12, and is preparing holiday drives and bell‑ringing shifts — and asked residents to donate or volunteer to support programs that reached hundreds of local families last year.

The programs are aimed at immediate needs and longer‑term youth support. "Our mission's pretty straightforward. It's to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human need in his name without discrimination," Yates said, noting the Tehachapi site is a service center focused on social services rather than regular church worship. He said the center’s largest functions are the food pantry and the after‑school program.

The center partners with other organizations to extend its reach. Yates described a "fresh rescue" pickup program, run in collaboration with CAPK, that collects still‑usable food and produce from local stores including Albertsons, Walmart, Save Mart and Dollar General. The center also operates a monthly USDA commodities drive — a drive‑through distribution on the third Tuesday of each month — with supplies delivered from the Bakersfield food bank and traffic control provided by the Tehachapi Amateur Radio Association.

Yates provided figures from recent operations: the after‑school program typically serves 30 to 50 students per day with a pool of roughly 150 regular participants; the program runs Monday through Friday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The back‑to‑school drive this year, he said, served about 100 Tehachapi families and distributed roughly 280 backpacks. Through emergency food boxes, the center served 511 families last year, covering a total of 1,681 individuals, Yates said.

Holiday programs and volunteer needs were a major focus. The center will hold a coat giveaway on Saturday, Nov. 1, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at its Tehachapi office and is collecting new and gently used children’s coats; Rotary is also collecting donations. The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree program will accept family signups in November for local children, and Yates said the Angel Tree served about 470 children last year with community donations that the center estimated at about $33,000 in toys. He said bell‑ringing shifts to raise local funds will begin in mid‑November, with dates to be posted on the center’s Facebook page; Yates emphasized that money collected in local kettles stays in Tehachapi to fund the center’s programs.

Yates also said the center is hiring a part‑time youth programs aide to assist the youth center coordinator with the after‑school program, including serving snacks and planning activities. He asked people with skills — for example, music or art — who want to mentor junior high and high school students to contact the center about volunteering.

The Salvation Army in Tehachapi directs people to its Facebook page (Tehachapi Service Center) for announcements and said the office phone number is (661) 823‑9508. Yates encouraged residents who need services but cannot come during regular hours to call so staff can make individual arrangements.

Topics covered in the interview include pantry operations, monthly commodities distribution, youth programming, community partnerships, holiday drives and local fundraising. Yates framed the center’s work as a local resource for families in need and urged community support through donations and volunteer time.