The annual San Marino Firefighters’ Association Pancake Breakfast has been a part of San Marino’s calendar of events for a very long time. So long that Firefighter/Paramedic Jeff Tsay, who has been with the San Marino Fire Department for over five years, cannot put a finger on the exact year.
“It’s been going on for more than 10 years, but probably a lot longer than that,” Tsay said, flipping through old notes from past pancake breakfasts, eventually arriving at memoirs from 1988.
Tsay is responsible for organizing this year’s breakfast, which will take place on Saturday, May 21 at Lacy Park. He added that the purpose for the event is “to create a community type of event and to raise money for the two burn foundations.”
These two foundations are the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation and the Firefighters Quest for Burn Survivors Foundation.
The Ruch Burn Foundation puts the money it receives toward providing a variety of services to enhance the lives of burn survivors—both firefighters and civilians—and educating communities across California about burn prevention.
“Most of the injuries we see are from burns,” Tsay said of the injuries faced by firefighters. “They do so much with the fire service to raise money,” he added.
Samantha Zepeda of the Ruch Burn Foundation has enjoyed working with the San Marino Firefighters Association. “This pancake breakfast is over the top,” she said. “They do an awesome job of going all out.”
The SMFA donates $2,500 to both foundations every year.
In recent years, the philanthropic reach of this event has grown. Local groups, like Boy Scout Troops and San Marino Little League, have been added to the list of donation recipients.
A vendor’s row at the park’s entrance provides an opportunity for local businesses to advertise their goods and services. Tsay was thankful for the businesses that contributed to the event, saying “some of these stores that give us donation items, they donate hundreds.”
Tickets are $10 per person and can be purchased at the San Marino Fire Dept., at the door on May 21 or at www.eventbrite.com.
