Helping, caring, and serving others: that’s what the Holy Cross Pancake Breakfast is all about. Exemplifying the phrase “Men for Others,” the Holy Cross Catholic Community hosts Jesuit volunteers from the Key Club, a community service group for the Jesuit student body. Helping out the South Dallas community through the Manna for Others program, they perform simple acts of cooking and serving breakfast every Saturday. Students sign up during the week for the opportunity to go out and work at Holy Cross, where they make both breakfast burritos and pancakes. The students receive five community service credits for their work and three additional credits credits if one of their parents volunteers as well.
As Junior Jackson White put it, “It’s a humbling experience, coming out here and serving breakfast.” Started by Ryan Black ’05 and his father Tom Black, the Manna for Others program was created in order to serve the community. Their search for social justice continues through today’s student volunteers, such as Nicholas Rodriguez ’15 (Nico) and Alex Curry ’14.
Alex “like[s] waking up early” and “having the opportunity to serve” those who come out to enjoy the breakfast. And Nico described the process as “really fun,” and he was surprised by “how efficient [they] were.” When asked if he would do it again, he simply replied, “I’d certainly do it again.”
On a standard day, the students arrive at 7 am. They begin by cooking eggs, sausages, and pancakes. While some are cooking, others clean off the tables, put out the various plates, cups, and silverware, and on the days where they have fruit, they also prepare fruit cups. Once the eggs and sausages are cooked, the volunteers mix them together to make the breakfast burritos. In order to maximize efficiency, the students form a burrito assembly line where one student places the egg and sausage filling on a flour tortilla and passes it along to two other students who add cheese and fold the burritos. This allowed the students to make over 100 burritos, more than enough to feed all the families who attend the breakfast, with some left over for the volunteers after cleanup.
Over time, the program has grown to be quite successful. Not very long ago, the program was in desperate need for volunteers. However, now, the program has expanded to two locations, and students must sign up in advance if they wish to serve. In addition, the program has maintained its partnership with Key Club, signifying its steady growth.
Over the course of its existence, many teachers have volunteered to moderate, and now the program has been handed over to student leadership. Currently, leaders of the Holy Cross Church location include Seniors Miguel Sotelo and Parker Wilson and Junior Jackson Slaughter. These student leaders direct the volunteers, take count of the materials used each week, make sure that everything is set up properly, and record both the students’ names and student IDs so that they can be given the credit they earn.
Aiming to make the process more efficient, Mr. Richard Perry along with Mr. Raul Ornelas, moderator of the Key Club, commissioned Seniors Grant Uy and Mauricio Narvaez to make a website for the breakfasts. This website, http://www.jcpcommunityservice.org/, allows Jesuit students and faculty members to sign up online for both locations, making sure there are plenty of people at each site. Students can sign up on a weekly basis or even months in advance for the service sites, and the in-site calendar tells students when a certain day has enough people to prevent over-crowding. The website is fully operational, such that students, faculty, and parents alike can register online.
You can get involved in this amazing community service opportunity either through Key Club or through Mr. Perry. The breakfast is a great way to earn community service credits because it gives potentially 8 credits for two hours of work. Also, it is a great experience to serve others and see the faces of the small children as they receive their pancakes. That being said, go out there and serve!
