Stephen's Service Organization: Pancakes for Poverty

Introduction:

Leisure trends are always evolving and part of the recent evolution in how people spend their leisure time has seen an increase in the participation rates of service organizations on college campuses. Pancakes for Poverty, an RSO on campus, is part of that trend.


Background:

Pancakes for Poverty is an RSO on campus that is dedicated to helping the needy by donating money to the Eastern Illinois Foodbank. Pancakes for Poverty donates to a local food bank to help fight hunger, but they are about more than just fighting hunger. In regards to some of his personal aspirations for Pancakes Alex said, “I also have personal goals as President of the club. My major goal within the club is to create an environment where kids are unafraid to do something kind of “kooky” and allow them to be themselves. Pancakes for Poverty is just as much about empowering students to fight apathy around campus and in their own lives as it is about making money.”



Employment/ Member Opportunities:

This organization only asks for two things from its members a desire to help others and a passion for sharing that desire with others. There are currently four leadership positions; the president, internal affairs VP, external affairs VP and finance VP. However Pancakes encourages leadership and involvement amongst all its members. In order to increase involvement in the club Ronning said, “Our goal is to have many subcommittees to allow everyone a creative outlet.”


Current Issues and Trends:

There is a general trend in growing membership within Pancakes that reflects a social movement towards greater participation in service oriented organizations. Pancakes membership numbers are currently hovering around 40 which is a drastic increase from last year. Just as Pancakes numbers have grown over the years so have the number of service oriented RSO’s on campus, which currently stands at 69. One issue that Pancakes had in the past was that it only had 7 active members and through their recruitment on Quad Day, facebook, twitter and their own website they have been able to increase their membership numbers.


Leisure Movement in Philanthropy:

Organizations such as Pancakes for Poverty are beginning to redefine yet another aspect of weisure. Weisure, the concept of work and leisure becoming interchangeable, is starting to become more of a selling point for these philanthropic organizations. People are beginning to love to “work” or volunteer and spend time laughing and hanging out with friends.




Synopsis:

Through my interview with Alex Ronning and an involvement with Pancakes for Poverty on a personal level I have learned about how philanthropic organizations and the concepts of leisure interact. As Pancakes for Poverty conducts its first sale of the year people will come together to “work” making and selling pancakes, however to most it is not work, but the fulfillment of a burning passion. The laughter, outrageous 80’s music, smiles and jokes coming from the Pancake stand prove that serving is a new form of leisure. Leisure for centuries has been viewed as sitting around watching television, relaxing and enjoying oneself away from anything work related, but its organizations like Pancakes that are starting to redefine leisure. Ronning said, “I wanted to see kids fight for a cause they believed in.” and “I want our kids to get involved and love doing it.” Serving others and each other is a concepts that Ronning’s Pancakes for Poverty group really promotes and will be a trend that continues for years to come in the field of leisure. Its an absolute blast to hang out with these people and its even sweeter that your really helping people out!