Calvin's 2024 Pancake Breakfast Fundraiser

 

The year is 2024

The month is February 

The time is 6:45 a.m. on a Saturday. 

The Event is our annual Pancake Breakfast. 

Our event has had a bit of a change this year. 

Our beloved John has moved to Southern Ontario and we have recruited a new person to manage the kitchen.  

So, we say farewell to John... 

.... and we say hello to Phil.  

Phil and I went on a shopping spree a couple of days before the fundraising event.  Normally John would have done this, so it was fun to shop and see what ingredients John got.  I even had to text him a few times just to make sure we knew why we were getting what we were getting. : ) 

Before we get into the event itself, I wanted to do a bit of a look backward like we did with the care packages in a previous entry. 

As far as I can recall, we started doing these fundraisers back in 2009.  So we have held this fundraiser 13 times in 16 years.

I've placed the years and the amount of profit earned, as well as if you click on the year you will be brought to the blog post so you can read about how things have progressed over the years.    

2009 -  $1,300 Peru trip 

2010 - $1,800 for Peru trip

2011 - $1,800 for Youth Group

2012 - $2,000 for Peru trip

2013 - $1,600 for Youth Group

2014 - Part 1  for Peru trip

2014 - Part 2  - $2,000 for Peru trip

2015 - $2600 for Youth Group and Gamaliel Christian School

2016 - $2350 for Peru Trip

Took a break in 2017

2018 - $2,000 for Peru trip 

2019 - $2,300 for Youth Group events and Ottawa Inner City Ministries

2020 -  $2139 -  All Ontario Convention 

2021 - No event due to COVID

2022 - No event due to COVID

2023 - $4118 for Mission trip to North Carolina and Refugees coming to Canada

2024 - $3062 for Mission trip to Kentucky and "Carleton Exam Pause Table"

The total profit made due to Calvin's generosity over the last 13 times, with a couple of breaks, has been 

$29,069.  

WOW!  

Back to the event. 

For those of you reading who may not know what a Pannekoek is (Pannekoeken for more than one) here's the definition: 

Pannekoeken = A form of Dutch pancake, being thin and wide and optionally made with apples or a variety of other ingredients.

This year we raised funds for 11 of us going on a Spring Break Mission Trip (a.k.a Learning Opportunity)with Calvary CRC and Williamsburg CRC to David, Kentucky, as well as to provide food items for the upcoming Carlteon "Exam Pause Table" to happen in April at Carleton University (See THIS LINK for that blog entry back in Dec of 2023.  

Those going on the Learning Opportunity from Calvin are:

Pastor Craig

Janene

Ryne

Elijah

Sam

Jason 

Holden

Marika

Kim

Lewis

Pastor Ron 

Emma also wanted to help out.  

We start the night before by cutting and prepping all the fruit.  

It's always a fun time.  

This group worked hard.  

Oh, It looks like Janene found a great way of taking care of the oranges : ) 

Voila  

Ryne tried not to chuckle too much : ) 

Yes, Sam, I'm going to take a picture of you....

....working : ) 

Lewis and Jason set up the fellowship hall.  

Lots of dishes and utensils to put out.  

I see Kim is in good form : ) 

Phil giving guidance and pointers....or was that Kim doing that : ) 

The work continues

The colour is so nice as the fruits get cut up.  

Our ingredient list.  

No secret recipe as far as I know : ) 

The finished product.  

Lots of great colour. 

After finishing the fellowship hall Jason and Lewis put together the donation envelops, with Sam supervising, as it should be : ) 

We were done in just over an hour. 

Not bad. 

So far so good : ) 

Before we knew it it was 6:45 a.m. Saturday morning. 

Craig and Janene arrive with necessary beverage in hand.  

Craig is still asleep as you can tell from the picture : ) 

We wasted no time in starting to prepare the ingredients.  

Well, we may have started a bit slower than I would have liked : ) 

Phil needed to explain things.  

Hey Ryne!!!!!

There you are : )

He's getting the whipped cream ready to go.  

We are using a special ingredient that Phil knew about to keep the whipped cream light and fluffy.  

And it worked!!  Whoot!!  

Lots of compliments on its taste and texture this year.  

Phil trying to rally the troops : ) 

And the batter prep begins.  

We needed Pannekoeken batter and blueberry batter.  

I asked Miranda and Jonah to help us out as well. 

They got the OJ ready to go.  It was VERY frozen : ) 

Some are working, some are waiting :) 

The end result for the tables. 

We are ready to begin !!!  

Usually Nathan and Margaret and family are our first guests and I get a picture of them, but this year it was John and Ellen. Nice to see you out for the 8 a.m. shift : ) 

The kitchen getting the pans to the right temperature.  We usually have to sacrifice a few pancakes and pannekoeken, but they are never wasted : ). Eventually, Marika got things under control and was a pancake-making phenom.   

Holden getting the hang of it.  

And Kim stepping in to increase production.  

And our guests have arrived and are enjoying the food.  

Hey, is there a theme of sticking out your tongue at the camera person today?  Thanks Andy : ) 

Emma helped out and did a great job.  Oh, and we have an addition. Welcome Annika.  

The first shift had about 36 people. 

The second we were going to serve 73 people.  

Whoot!!!! 

David and Rachel made it out with the twins.  

Hey Marika. 

Keep up the great work. 

I see you are managing two skillets now.  Whoot!!!

Lewis doing the blueberry pancakes when there was a lull in needing to make the pannekoeken

A here is Sam!!! 

Our resident dishwasher. 

He did an awesome job. 

And he actually likes doing this too. 

Bonus!! : ) 

Janene is hard at work making batter. 

Soooooo, how much sugar goes into the recipe???? : ) 

And Craig also prepping batter.  

We store them in hot pans until served.  

Martin with his party of 15 : )  

Sarah and Katrina with Gabby.  

Hey Pat and grandchildren : ) 

The second shift got the room buzzing

And us working extra fast.  

More table shots.  

Ineke before she knew I was taking her picture...

...and after :) 

Megan helping out again.  

Taking attendance and letting people know how to donate. 

A VERY important task : ) 

After we served, we ate.  

It was delicious.  

Thanks Phil for all your work managing the kitchen. 

You did well and we hope you will help us again next year :) 

And to John I say, THANK YOU for all your help over the years. Lots of early mornings and shopping etc.  It did not go unnoticed. 

Maybe someone out in Southern Ontario will read this and get the idea of asking you to do a breakfast out there : )  Whootttt : ) 

Got enouph pannekoeken there Ryne?  

Some of the crew chillin. 

I think there were still others working though. 

Hmmmmmmmmm

All cleaned up.  

Like we were never there :) 

Except for the strong smell of pancakes in the air.  

Oh, and Evert got a couple of shots of me. 

Yes, I did work.  

But I did take lots of pictures : ) 

And even had some fun. 

So in the end, due to those generous donors who participated in the day, and even some who said they couldn't attend but wanted to donate anyway, we were able to raise $3062 in profit. 

A majority will go to help this group of 11 meet their goals for going on the mission trip, and also to the Carleton "Exam Pause Table".  

Thanks again to all who helped cook, who came out and enjoyed a great morning, and to all who donated. 

Until Next year D.V.  

Calvin's Care Package Extravaganza!! 2024

 

January comes each year.  

High School Exams come each year.  

And after exams comes..... wait for it....

CARE PACKAGE TIME!!  WHOOT 

It's been some years since we started doing this ministry, and I wanted to know when we started, so after going back to my old blog posts, I discovered it began way back in January 2015 

(but the first post was Feb 2016).   

So we've been doing this for 10 years now.  WOW! 

That first year we prepared 30 packages for the Ottawa Campus Chaplaincy.  Calvin Congregants donated items that I asked for and on the evening of preparation we prepared hand-made cards, wrapped the boxes, and coloured the wrapping paper.  

Whew, what was I thinking : )!! 

In 2016 we did 60 packages. 

2017 - 114 packages

2018 -  144 packages

2019 - 174 packages 

2020 - 175 packages - and we stopped wrapping the boxes with paper, and just taped them.  : )  Saved a lot of time! Also, I just asked for donations of funds vs stuff.  It's actually easier.  :) 

2021 - 97 packages made by my family during COVID for the youth and young adults of Calvin CRC

2022 - 125 packages again made by my family during COVID and distributed to youth and young adults of Calvin CRC.  

2023 - back to regular packages for Ottawa Campus Chaplaincy and those in school from Calvin CRC.  175 of them. 

2024 - 175 packages once again. 

Pics are below but before you get to that some fun facts. 

Contents of each box was: 

1. New Testament Bibles - Book of John  1 / box
2. Mr. Noodle  1 / box
3. Highlighters - 1 / box
4. Microwave popcorn   2 / box
5. Gum packets   1 per box 
6. Oatmeal packages  3 / box
7. Small tissue packets  1 / box
8. Granola Bars   - 2 / box
9. Hot Chocolate  2 / box
10. Fruitsations  2 / box
11. Earl Grey Tea packets 3 / box 
12. Small post-it notes - 1 /box
13. Rice Crispy Square -  1 / box
14. Mini Ritz cheese   1/ box
15. Cheddar Cheese Goldfish  1/box
16. Nestle full-sized chocolate bars  1 / box
17. Werther's originals  2 / box
18. Celebration Mini Chocolate Chips - 1 / box
19. Paper mate pens - 1 / box
20. Swiss milk chocolate start with 5  / box 
21. $5 Tim's cards - 1 / box
22. Hand Made Card  1 / box

The total number of pieces purchased and put into the boxes was 6500 - give or take a couple of hundred more : ) 

Total donated amount

This year generous donors gave $3,175 which allowed all the above items to be purchased.  I was able to spend it all, going over by only $6.08 : ) 

Parcels will be given out to: 

• 5 to Redeemer U students away

• 5 to persons just needing a pick me up

• 9 to people attending Calvin and are students

• 10 in reserve in case someone needs one :  ) 

• 146 to U of Ottawa Students via Ottawa Campus Chaplaincy. 

Thanks to all from Calvin who donated items or funds to make this possible. 

So, once again, here's all the before-work:

The trek to Costco to get the goods.  

Also to Food Basics to get some items as well as Staples.  

Then I put them by my office to await packing.  

Ordering the boxes from Staples.  

Getting the Bibles.   

And taping the boxes so they could be stuffed. 

This year I did that to save some time. 

Oh and to Tim's to get the 175 gift cards.  

Good thing they do them in batches.  

I'd be there for hours if they didn't : ) 

This year I also decided to have the cards prepared on the front and a short contact info blurb on the inside.  

Then those making the cards would have more time to write something nice rather than decorate, though many did a great job at both. 

Thanks Megan for making the front of the card. 

And the night arrived. 

A good mix of youth and young adults and a mentor. 

Whoot!! 

We got the boxes put into the long room 

And Megan and Miranda headed up the card prep portion.  

It takes time to do things 175 times.  

As some were getting the boxes ready, 

others got the stuff from near my office.  

Ryne is trying to hold up the wall?  

Sam, that pile is almost as tall as you are :) 

Almost done.  : ) 

The cardmakers are in full swing. 

Some very nice cards were made.  

Boxes lined up and ready for stuff.  

Scott and Leanne headed up the putting stuff into boxes portion. 

It takes surprisingly long to place 175 items into the boxes. : ) 

Phil opening them all up. 

That too took some time.  

Scott giving directions. 

And the group following them 

(mostly)  : ) 

More getting assignments. 

And more.  

Organized chaos :) 

The boxes start to fill. 

Ryne felt he needed to make this a competition of speed : ) 

Oh Ryne, Ryne, Ryne :  )  

And yes, we needed to pack down the empty boxes. 

Elijah starting things off.  

Others joined him eventually.  

The boxes getting fuller.  

Lots of cardboard to flatten.  

The boxes are pretty much done.  

They were very full this year so we had everyone move things around to make sure they would close. 

Notice the right side, is not adjusted yet, and the left side is adjusted.  

After the gift cards and cards were put in Theo and I closed the boxes. 

The packing tape wasn't very cooperative with the tape gun was it Theo : ) 

Lots of time was spent fixing the tape gun.  

Whoot.  

The finished product and group shot.  

As the final act of kindness, the boxes were brought upstairs to my office area for me to soon hand out here and bring to Ryan for the Ottawa Campus Chaplaincy.  

Oh, and the next day I noticed how those who put the boxes here did a marvelous job making them look like brickwork. 

Nice work, whomever you were : ) 

Finally, some videos of the group working hard.  

Videos

Everyone placing items in.  

and more items.  

Ryne speed dumping items into the boxes.  

repacking the boxes. 

They were so quiet : ) 

Soooooooo another one in the books. 

THANKS AGAIN all of you who donated towards this cause. 

THANKS to the youth and young adults who showed up to make this happen again as well. 

Time to bless those whom God has prepared to be blessed. 

Whoot!!!  

And no, we didn't do the 225 I suggested last year. 

Maybe next year  : )