Complete prior to day of breakfast:

• Ask 3-5 people to help with setup, cooking and cleanup.
• Ask 3-5 people to be at the breakfast to be friendly and meet new people who come in.
• Contact the RD/dorm office to reserve a lounge with a kitchen area in the dorm you want to do the pancake breakfast in.
• Prepare advertisements to put up around dorm.
• Put up advertisements in dorm a couple days before breakfast. Find out from the dorm office where you can put up posters in the dorm.
• Prepare interest sign up sheets at each table to allow people to sign up for more information on other things that will be going on in the future.
• Make sure the following items are being brought by someone:
  • 2 large bags of pancake mix (2 bags from Sam's Club will feed 80 plus people)
  • 6 gallons of orange juice (feeds around 50 people)
  • 3 tubes of Jimmy Dean sausage (feeds around 50 people) and/or bacon
  • 1 large tub of margarine (one tub should last several breakfasts)
  • Syrup (You can buy a couple regular sized bottles for people to pour syrup from, then buy a couple large bottles from Sam's to refill the smaller bottles)
  • Milk (optional unless it is needed for the pancake mix)
  • Eggs (optional)
  • Fruit (optional)
  • 4 pans suitable for pancakes and sausage (2 large and 2 small)
  • 2 spatulas (1 large and 1 small)
  • Cookie sheet or other large flat pan. (Serves the purpose of storing and keeping pancakes/eggs warm in the oven.)
  • 2 large/medium mixing bowls for pancakes/eggs
  • 2 wooden or plastic stirrers for pancakes/eggs
  • Paper towels and napkins
  • Forks and at least one knife - plastic forks are general use and a knife for butter
  • Plastic/paper/Styrofoam cups
  • Dishwashing soap/scrub pad/washcloth for cleanup

Do at the breakfast:

• Put interest sign up sheets on each table.
• Have a few people at the breakfast to meet new people and be friendly.
• During the breakfast, have a couple people go out into the dorm to invite people to the breakfast. If peoples' doors are open then it's a great opportunity to meet someone new and invite them to the breakfast.
• After the breakfast, take down advertisements that were put up a couple days ago.

Wisdom gained from previous pancake breakfasts:

• Only pancakes and drinks are necessary, however it is good to have some meat. In addition to being tasty, the meat helps people smell your breakfast and draws them to come. Be aware that if you try to do more than two different kinds of things requiring the stove you will be that much more limited in the number of people you can serve.
• It is easier to just get juice since it stores longer than milk, both in and out of the fridge. Not all dorm lounges have fridges, therefore during the breakfast, drinks may not be able to be stored in a fridge.
• Bacon can be bought uncooked or cooked (where you just heat it up). Sausage can be bought in a tube, by the patty, or in links. The cheapest way to go is probably sausage in a tube.
• Eggs can be good, either made to order or just scrambled. Be aware if you cook scrambled eggs, you will have to keep them warm or nobody will want them.
• Fruit can be nice, but it may take more work than it's worth. Mixed fruit, perhaps sliced melons in a bowl, is one way to go.
• Chocolate chips or blueberries are items that can be added to pancake mix to give variation in pancakes. However, there will always be a lot of people who want plain pancakes.
• Providing an interest sign up sheet at each table is recommended. You can advertise for a Bible study, Sunday morning worship, future pancake breakfasts, etc. This definitely has been a key component in follow-up.
• Startup costs are always high for a pancake breakfast, and depend on how much of the list you don't already have. It is reasonable to expect the start up cost to be $60. Once a breakfast is being done regularly, it can be done for no more than $30 a time if serving around 50 people. Of course, eggs, fruit, and more people drive up the cost.