Now here’s a fundraiser that’s really flipping good: Students from M State’s Criminal Justice program recently wrapped up another successful season of serving all-you-can-eat buttermilk and Swedish pancakes, eggs, and sausage to community members at the Moorhead Masonic Lodge’s weekly Pancake Breakfasts. The Saturday morning breakfasts cost just $10 a plate, and proceeds go toward the students’ education.
The fundraiser has brought M State’s Criminal Justice Association together with the Moorhead Masonic Family (Masonic Lodge No. 126, Moorhead Chapter No. 164 Order of the Eastern Star, and Bethel No. 32 of Job’s Daughters) for the past eight years. The partnership has been such a win-win that this year, students from M State’s Dental program were brought in to benefit, too. Now, it’s a win-win-win.
The Masonic bodies do most of the cooking and dishwashing, while the M State students do most of the serving. They bring people their plates, fill their coffee cups, and all the while are chatting about their studies, career plans and life in general.
“The students are learning important communication and people skills by serving these breakfasts to the public, and it’s a great way to market and raise funds for the college and our programs,” says Jeff Nelson, Criminal Justice Program Coordinator and Faculty at M State. “Plus, the breakfasts allow the Masonic Family to give back to their community in a way that they enjoy and is meaningful to them. It’s a win-win-win.”
Lydia Moore, an M State Criminal Justice student and Pancake Breakfast volunteer, says her fundraising experience this past year was both fun and rewarding.
“The Masons are a great community organization, and the breakfasts give us students a great opportunity to grow relationships within the Moorhead community, which some of us may be working in at the end of our college education,” Moore says. “Plus, the pancakes are amazing, so that’s a bonus!”
The breakfasts are served on Saturdays from 7-11 a.m. at the Masonic Lodge in Moorhead (1815 11th Street North), every November through March. They’ve generated about $2,250 in local dollars every year for the past 4-5 years, and thanks to the Minnesota Masonic Charities Matching Grants Program, those dollars have been doubled each time, to $4,500. The students use the funds to help pay for required trainings, exams and licensures that aren’t covered by financial aid and can cost thousands of dollars.
Shane Granzow, an event worker for the Moorhead Masons, says partnering with M State on the breakfasts “has been a dream come true.”
The Masons started the fundraiser many years ago, and for a long time, it was a beloved and successful event for the lodge. Over the decades, however, the energy and enthusiasm of the early days began to dwindle, and so did the number of volunteers. Bringing in M State students to help was just the reinvigorating solution needed.
“We’re a community service-oriented group, and this partnership with M State gives us the helpers we need – and the adrenaline boost of youth – to keep providing this service to the community,” Granzow says.
The partnership started as a one-time event in March of 2016 and blossomed from there. Now, M State students help every week, with Criminal Justice students volunteering for two Saturdays a month and Dental students volunteering for the other two, always in groups of five or six. The Masonic Family makes three announcements during every breakfast to let diners know it’s M State students who are serving them.
“Several of our Dental students signed up again and again this year, going many times, and they want to do it again next year,” says Michelle Samuelson, Dental Faculty at M State. “They really have fun, and it’s a great fundraiser for them, too.”
“My students are actually upset that they’re done for the year,” says Nelson. “That’s how much they enjoy it.”