Pancake breakfast returns to St. Anthony's

A decades old Oceanside Kiwanis Club tradition returned to St. Anthony’s Church this past Sunday with a slight tweak. The club’s pancake breakfast fundraiser, now March Madness-themed, saw a few hundred guests of all ages come to the cafeteria in the lower hall of the St. Anthony’s school.

The breakfast fundraiser was themed to the Super Bowl in years past but was pushed back and re-themed to coincide with the NCAA Men’s and Women’s basketball tournaments. No matter the theming, the event resumed its important work of bringing the community together and raising funds for Kiwanis Club activities and ‘Kamp Kiwanis’ – the organization’s summer camp in Utica for children with special needs.

Many families came over straight from masses at the church that shares a parking lot with the school to take part in the raffles and games and get a breakfast of bacon, eggs, and of course pancakes. The raffle baskets included toys and games and were donated by several Oceanside businesses and schools. The same went for the food, as the pancake mix was donated by the iHop that hosted the event in front of their business last year.

The Kiwanis Club provided an outdoor, heated tent on the cool morning for those who still are not completely comfortable returning to indoor activities because of Covid.

Typically, the pancake breakfast brings in around $1,500 to go to Kamp Kiwanis and other children’s-focused events in Oceanside like the club’s Easter Egg hunt currently planned for April 9 at Merle Avenue’s track.

Nancy Baxter, a past president and past lieutenant governor of Oceanside Kiwanis, has been organizing the event for years. “The best part I think is in the morning when all the guys come in and chit-chat a bit and then get to work,” Baxter said. “Everybody pitches in and does their thing. Just seeing the camaraderie of everybody together is really heartwarming.” Baxter retires in June and was excited to experience the pancake breakfast one last time as a Kiwanis member.

Those Kiwanis members back in the kitchen preparing the food included the current Oceanside President Mike D’Ambrosio and previous president Michael Graham of Mike’s Flowers in Oceanside and East Rockaway. “There’s a lot of components that go into Kiwanis and it’s not just about having a fundraiser, but it’s also about brining kids into the community and giving them a sense of belonging into a worldwide organization,” D’Ambrosio said.

D’Ambrosio also pointed to the Oceanside Key Club’s recent popcorn fundraiser, which raised over $45,000 for the Kiwanis Club for its other events and Kamp Kiwanis. The Key Club is the child-led extension of the Kiwanis organization in local schools.

Graham was excited to see so many Oceanside businesses help to put together the pancake breakfast again. “They all support one another and keep each other in business,” Graham said. Without them in our communities, we don’t have those donations for PTA’s, for Kiwanis, for the chamber, for anything.”