klingelhoeferme@lopers.unk.edu

Gamma Phi Beta celebrated its 10-year anniversary Pancake Feed on April 5. The philanthropy event exceeded expectations and raised over $2,000. 

All proceeds are donated to the Girls on the Run of Nebraska, a local nonprofit organization. 

According to the Girls on the Run of Nebraska website, they “aim to inspire girls to be joyful, healthy and confident using a fun, experience-based curriculum that creatively integrates running.”

Last year, Gamma Phi Beta received an international award for their donations and services toward Girls on the Run, and this year they enhanced their event even more.

The pancake feed was a fun-filled evening with a delightful breakfast-for-dinner meal, featuring fluffy eggs, tasty sausages and buttery pancakes. 

Luckily for one student at Central Community College, it was her first time attending a fundraiser feed like this.

“It was a very calm experience, super fun and super tasty. Everyone was so nice and the pancakes were delicious,” said Andrea Barrios, a junior in pre-med.

Halfway through the event, Daylee Dey, a sophomore in radiology and the sorority’s public relations vice president, mentioned how they were not expecting so many people to arrive. 

“I thought after we met our goal of 500 people, we’re just going to plateau, but we kept going, so that was good,” Dey said. 

Gamma Phi Beta started planning this event at the beginning of last semester and tabled the weeks leading up to the event. Tabling is when members of an organization give out flyers or information at a table either around campus or in the community about an upcoming event. 

While Gamma Phi Beta faced obstacles with ordering supplies, Ahnika Svajgr, a junior at UNMC and Philanthropy Chairwoman, explained more about how they overcame those challenges.

“We ran out of stuff last year, and so this year we ordered more and we still are running out,” Svajgr said. “So, that’s definitely an issue, but it’s also a success.”

Svajgr also mentioned the emphasis on safety they established during the food preparation.

“We are very careful. Someone did get like hot water in the roasters, so like moving the eggs, because that whole process is difficult as well, but that’s all we’ve had,” Svajgr said. “We just have two people on each side of the griddle.”

The success of the pancake feed impacted not only the people who came to support it, but also the members of Gamma Phi Beta. 

“The biggest impact is how many people actually support Girls on the Run in general, which is really nice to see because I didn’t realize how big of a thing it was when I first came into the sorority,” said Kaidence Spiegel, a freshman in industrial distribution. “The more I learned about it, and the more I see people coming in wanting to support it, it makes me feel really good.”

Overall, many members of Gamma Phi Beta annual pancake feed are proud of the success to have raised their goal amount and spread awareness about Girls on the Run to the community.