Valparaiso Kiwanis Delivers Again with 61st Annual Pancake Breakfast

From early morning to noon on March 9, the Valparaiso Kiwanis Club worked hard serving pancakes and holding raffles for the hundreds of people attending the annual Valparaiso Pancake Breakfast fundraiser. The Valparaiso Kiwanis Club celebrated its 61st annual fundraising event by serving thousands of hardy pancake breakfasts, all with the hopes of raising over $2,000 worth of funds to donate to local organizations.

The pancake breakfast is one of the many Kiwanis's fundraising events that have helped the Kiwanis Club raise over $400,000 in funds over the last 10 years. The pancake breakfast not only serves delicious pancakes, but also provides entertainment, face painting, cotton candy and a kid's play area for its younger participants.

The members of the Kiwanis Club wholeheartedly believe in giving back to the community and making the community a better place.

"We have been doing this since 1952; it’s our 61st anniversary,” the head chairman and organizer of the Kiwanis pancake breakfast fundraiser said. “The whole goal is to raise money for Valparaiso; it’s all about giving back to the people of Valparaiso.”

He also explained a little bit about the Kiwanis Club's fundraising.

"Last year we gave out 5,500 dollars for scholarships and about 5,000 for different student projects,” he said. “We donate to places like Opportunity Enterprises, The Caring Place for battered women and Riley Hospital. The only money that leaves town goes to Riley Hospital, everything thing else stays local in the Valparaiso area. The money we raise goes to a little bit here and a little bit there; it’s a variety of things. The Pancake Day doesn't just go to one thing; we made about $1,800 last year on Pancake Day. That money, along with money raised from other fundraisers, all gets put into savings, and then we distribute it to all different areas of the community."

The Valparaiso Key Club also contributed to the Kiwanis's Pancake Breakfast by providing entertainment through face painting, reading and drawing with the younger kids. The Key Club also helped by keeping the cafeteria clean and providing service to anyone who needed it in order to keep the event running smoothly. Besides the entertainment provided by the Key Club, great prizes such as digital cameras, other electronics and household appliances were raffled off to contribute to the breakfast's lively atmosphere.

Click here for a full photo gallery of the breakfast!