By Cecilia Nasmith/Today’s Northumberland
If you have Shrove Tuesday pancakes in mind for Feb. 17, you could not only get a good feed but do some good for your community at the fourth annual Pancake Brunch at St. George’s Anglican Church in Grafton.
This event has become a reliable fundraiser for Habitat For Humanity in Northumberland, helping the organization complete its seven-unit townhouse development in Baltimore this last spring. Their work carries on, and St. George’s will be there to support it.
Sharon O’Connor of the church’s Social Justice team recalled how Rev. Helena-Rose Houldcroft wanted the church to host a pancake brunch. Dick Raymond of the church’s men’s group suggested making it a Habitat fundraiser, and worked with her to fine-tune the details – largely consisting of leaving the cooking to the men’s group, as they have had years of experience. These amazing men gather every Friday morning to cook a 9:30 a.m. breakfast that welcomes anyone who cares to drop into the church’s Canon Nind Hall for food and fellowship.
Raymond says they can pretty well count on the Pancake Brunch to raise $2,500 for Habitat each year. O’Connor agrees, but she added that, over those four years, they have raised and given more than $15,000 in all.
This includes more than a dozen separate occasions when they provided lunches to the workers on the build, using the funds the men’s group raised through those weekly community breakfasts.
The generosity of the men’s group means they could show up on the site on more than a dozen occasions, bringing soup, sandwiches, salads and goodies from Lass & Ladle in Grafton. They were glad to support a local business and – thanks to the special deals provided by owner Terry Carruthers – they could make those funds go further.
Raymond and crew have kept those funds flowing to the Social Justice Committee, O’Connor reported.
“We couldn’t have carried on with the meals for Habitat if they didn’t have back-up money,” she said.
“Other members did give money, but Dick was forever, ‘How’s the pot?’”
O’Connor called Raymond – who, with his wife Ann, is already in the Cobourg and District Sports Hall of Fame – a silent hero.
When you walk in the church’s front door, there’s a poster for the Pancake Brunch on the bulletin board, but what also catches the eye is the full-page spread on the event that was written up in The Anglican Journal, complete with photos. These labours of love came to the attention of Bishop of Toronto Andrew Asbil, and he had asked that the journal undertake a write-up, which was done for their fall edition.
By now, the annual Pancake Brunch runs as smoothly as clockwork. The men cook, the women of the church provide sweets (with the Social Justice Committee using some of that men’s-group money to purchase the syrup). And the “brunch” setting (as opposed to a pancake supper) means enjoying your fill and then driving home in daylight.
Admission is by donation, as always. And Habitat representatives will be on hand, not only to show their support, but to provide tax-deductible receipts for those who request them.
The event runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Feb. 16, and the church is located at 10792 County Rd. 2 in Grafton. Everyone’s welcome.
