Rotarians held their annual Father’s Day Pancake breakfast this year at Northgate Free Methodist Church on Bank street road on Sunday morning, instead of at the Genesee County Airport.
Due to the need for social distancing, and the fact that Northgate allows for the space to social distance into small groups, the set up was ideal for the Pancake Breakfast. Northgate has been the site of food distributions since the beginning of the pandemic and can safely handle the traffic flow of a drive-thru set up.
Patrons were able to drive into the parking lot and up to a tented area, where they were provided with a take-out container of pancakes, sausage, milk and orange juice.
This year’s breakfast was free to the community. Donations were also accepted. The club usually uses this event as one of their major fundraisers.
The Batavia Rotary Club annually provides $18,000 in scholarships to graduates of Batavia and Notre Dame High Schools, along with Genesee Valley Educational Partnership.
“Club members thought the community needed a positive event a this time. We want to serve those in need. It’s a sample of our club’s interpretation of the Rotary motto of service above self,” says President Bob Knipe
The volunteers served about 350 meals this morning. They also sent 30 meals to GCC and 60 meals to ARC homes. Any extra food was donated to the Salvation Army.
The event was made possible because of major sponsors like Tops, UMMC, Suburban Propane, Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Batavia Downs Gaming, Reinhart Enterprises and Massive Testing and Balancing LLC.
The over 20 year tradition will continue next year at the airport.
