The annual event honored first responders and celebrated community.
For community gathering with a side of syrup, the Kiwanis Club of La Jolla put on its annual Pancake Breakfast Aug. 17, taking over the grounds of the La Jolla Recreation Center as it’s done since 1963.
The event, which has always featured all-you-can-eat pancakes, sausage, fruit, coffee and juice, sold the most tickets since the COVID pandemic, Kiwanis President Alexia El Wardini said.
This was also the first year the club focused the Pancake Breakfast on honoring first responders, hosting fire, lifeguard and SWAT vehicles for attendees to tour and enjoy.
“We’re doing it for [the first responders] this time,” Kiwanis Foundation President Craig Gagliardi said to the crowd. “Thank you very much for your service.”
Kiwanis will keep the same focus for the next few years, El Wardani said, to let those officers “know how much we appreciate them.”
The organization will also strive to maintain the date going forward as the Saturday after San Diego Unified School District starts classes to anchor the Pancake Breakfast, which included pony rides, a performance by local band The Bird Rockers, raffles and more, as an ongoing back-to-school tradition.
And as the Kiwanis Club’s La Jolla Half Marathon has become such a strong fundraiser for the club’s philanthropy projects, the Pancake Breakfast will continue transitioning from a major fundraiser to a cost-covering event that brings La Jolla together.
“It’s our gift to the community, El Wardani said. “We want to keep growing it and make it better and better.”
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