Thursday, November 21, 2024–10:45 a.m.
-David Crowder, WRGA News-
For the 64th year, members of the Rome Noon Optimist Club will be up bright and early, serving all-you-can-eat pancakes and sausage, all for a good cause.
The annual “Flippin’ for Youth” pancake breakfast is Saturday from 6 a.m. until 11 a.m. at the Rome Civic Center on Jackson Hill.
“This is our main fundraising event that supports all of our scholarship grants and everything that we do for the club in the community for the entire year,” said breakfast chair Daniel Bosarge. “All of our sponsors and the suppliers for the pancake breakfast do a phenomenal job, helping us to make sure that we give back to the community. So, we really appreciate them.”
Tickets are $8 in advance and $9 at the door.
“You’re not going to eat breakfast in Rome at that price,” said Scott Moody with the Optimist Club. “So, it’s a great value, and again, because of the relationships that club members have built over the years, it’s almost all profit. When you buy an eight-dollar ticket, eight dollars is going back into the things we do for our community for youth.”
Money raised helps the Optimist Club fund other organizations geared toward youth in Rome and Floyd County.
The Optimist Club also has its own programs like an essay and oratorical contests.
“We put money into students who are in those contests, and we have had a lot of success on our district level,” Moody said. We’ve had a number of district winners. We also have had a student in the oratorical contest that made it to the finals of the international, and wound up with over $10,000 in scholarships.”
According to Moody, if a student can effectively use the spoken and written word, they are more likely to have success in life.