Lions Club hosts Pancake Breakfast on April 24

The Eden Prairie Lions Club hosts its annual Pancake Breakfast fundraiser from 8 a.m. to noon Sunday, April 24, at True Friends Camp Eden Wood Center, 6350 Indian Chief Road, Eden Prairie.

The cost is $8 for a single ticket or $20 for a family ticket. Children under 5 eat free. Tickets are available from Eden Prairie Lions Club members or at the door. 

Because of the pandemic, Gary Watkins, the club’s past president who serves as its communications manager, said it’s the first pancake breakfast since 2019.

“It’s a good fundraiser,” Watkins said. “We typically, depending on the weather, get 400 to 600 people (attending). There was a snow 3-4 years ago and that cut it down a lot. As long as it doesn’t rain or snow, we get a pretty good crowd.”

Along with the pancake breakfast, the Lions Club raises money for local causes and organizations through Schooner Days in June, the July 4 beer trailer, and the Corn Feed in August.

All profits made during Lions Club fundraisers are donated. None of it is used to support Lions Club operations. Funds from Lions Club members support its operating budget.

Since July 1, 2019, the club has donated $75,100 for public safety, scholarships, social and community services, vision, hearing, diabetes and other foundations, and animal rescue and nature centers.

That includes $15,000 to True Friends Camp Eden Wood, $10,000 to The Friendship Project (single parent support and education), $8,500 to the Eden Prairie Fire Department for airway management/CPR training mannequins, $6,000 in scholarships to Eden Prairie residents, $6,000 to the Eden Prairie Crime Prevention Fund for a trained K-9 dog, and $3,400 to The PROP Shop.

“It is a pretty cool list,” Watkins said. “A lot of people when they see it say, ‘Well, I didn’t know you guys did that.'”