Just 10 years ago, the idea for the annual Pancakes for Parkinson’s fundraiser emerged out of one University student’s admissions essay. Through an innumerable quantity of pancakes — chocolate chip and blueberry included — the organization has since been recognized as an official “Team Fox” fundraiser by the Michael J. Fox Foundation and has spread to dozens of other schools. Nationally, the fundraisers have collectively raised more than a million dollars for Parkinson’s research.
This past Saturday, University and Charlottesville community members gathered on the south Lawn to continue the tradition and celebrate a decade of pancake flipping.
When applying to the University, 2006 College graduate Mary McNaught Yonkman, wrote an essay about “pancakes” being her favorite word and promised to start a pancakes event on the Lawn for a worthy cause if accepted. She followed through with her promise in 2004 when she founded the first Pancakes for Parkinson’s event in honor of her aunt, who had been diagnosed with the disease.
In the past decade, Pancakes for Parkinson’s at the University has raised more than $250,000 and has served as a replicable model of an event that can rally people around a good cause, prompting the Michael J. Fox Foundation to recognize the CIO as an official fundraiser in 2007.
“There is something really cool about the idea of something so simple as pancakes in being so transformative, in being able to bring people together… it just says community,” Team Fox officer Liz Diemer said.
To raise money for the Michael J. Fox foundation, volunteers annually launch a letter writing campaign, asking friends and family to donate, said Henry Jamison, third-year College student and director of Pancakes for Parkinson’s.
Other large sources of revenue come from t-shirt sales, local sponsors and donations the day of the event. Pancakes for Parkinson’s also seeks sponsorship from corporations such as Whole Foods and Trader Joes, who donate foods like cookie butter and orange juice to accompany the pancakes.
Leading up to the morning of the event, the organization engaged in intensive planning and administrative work. So-called “pancake coordinators” were responsible for tasks such as finding sources of water, gathering lighters, teaching volunteers how to flip pancakes and driving all over Virginia to load rented Pancake griddles into a U-Haul truck.
“So many hours of preparation go into it on everyone’s part … but when you get to the day of and things are sort of flowing like they should, you get to focus on how much fun everyone’s having and the good you are doing,” Jamison said.
The organizers of the event arrive on the lawn at 4 a.m. the day of the event to prepare. This year, that included a table with party hats, balloons and sprinkles to put on your pancakes as a part of the “Pancakes Turns Ten” festivities.
“The Lawn goes from completely empty to just packed with people,” said Josh Myers, fourth-year College student and co-chair of the event. “It is very fulfilling for anyone on the organizational side and especially for people that haven’t been before. It is just amazing to see that sort of turnaround.”
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Lawn was filled with students enjoying their free pancakes in the crisp fall air and watching performances from various groups around Grounds. There were also representatives from the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
“The fact that they are willing to send some representatives down and express a more personal support for the event really speaks to how much of an impact it has had here, and how much of a portable model Pancakes for Parkinson’s is as a fundraising event,” Myers said.
Myers said his involvement has very personal significance. His grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinsons before he was born, and after a long struggle with the disease, passed away this past spring.
“She had heard about Pancakes and knew about it, but it wasn’t something that she had asked me to do or anything like that,” Myers said. “This is a way for me to personally honor her memory and also contribute to something that is just a huge tradition and community event.”
Now that the 10th annual Pancakes for Parkinson’s has come and gone, the group’s executive board is hoping to carry the spirit of the event through the rest of the year by coming up with smaller fundraising opportunities. Myers said he wants to build a stronger alumni base for fundraising, and also for keeping in touch with the volunteers. Free pancakes may have to wait until next year, but hopefully philanthropy won’t.
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