Making Pancakes and why they Matter

It’s been quite some time since I’ve sat down to write a blog. However, our gym has recently started doing some mutual aid work that I thought deserved to be shared.

For those of you who know me personally or have just been following the gym on social media, you are likely aware that I recently started the Indy Pancake Popup. This little project is simple: I make pancakes and other breakfast foods for unhoused individuals in Indianapolis once a week. My children come with me and we set up a couple of propane stoves, throw a cast iron griddle on top, and get to work.

Since 2020, I have been trying to be involved in more mutual aid efforts. For a long time, I would spend my Saturdays at No Questions Asked Food Pantry (NQAFP). We would hand out hot food, groceries, hygiene items, cleaning supplies, harm reduction kits, pet food, clothing, and more to both the housed and unhoused alike. The idea behind it was to give to anyone who said they needed it without questioning their needs, or requiring any sort of religious affiliation, etc. Sadly, the pantry has been gone for quite some time now and though they have shown glimmers of a potential re-opening, it has yet to come to fruition.

However, over the last few months another organization popped up to help fill the need within the community; Indy Food Drop. This organization is made up of three core volunteers who had also spent time at NQAFP and didn’t want to wait anymore to get to work. They provide hot food, clothing, and emergency supplies to the unhoused community in Indianapolis. I took notice of them on social media and decided to come volunteer with them. While doing so, I realized that I also didn’t need to wait for someone else to open up shop for me to volunteer at, but I could branch out and work on my own. Thus, the pancake popup was born.

I consider Indy Pancake Popup to be a supplemental organization to groups like Indy Food Drop. This is because groups like Indy Food Drop are providing so many more services than I am personally. Pancakes are cheap and easy to make, and even though we buy the more expensive protein pancakes to provide more nutritional value to our unhoused friends, it just doesn’t compare to the monetary needs of Indy Food Drop and the items they provide.

What you may or may not know is that I have chosen to use a portion of the funds I receive from gym membership fees every month to support Indy Pancake Popup. While the project is small at the moment, I feel it is very important and has potential for growth in the very near future.

According to Diversion Indy, 186 unhoused Hoosiers have died as a direct result of being unhoused in 2021. That number is an unfortunate look at human lives needlessly lost here in our state. And it breaks my heart to say it, but earlier today I learned that a man from the encampment we have serviced the most died. We called him Q. He would always have his dog Moon Pie with him and would allow myself and my children to love on her. Q was very kind to us. It honestly hurts to know he is gone.

I hope that as this organization continues to grow, we are able to do more to prevent tragedies like this. As it stands right now, I am grateful to everyone in this gym. You are all supporting the mission of making our communities a better, kinder place and for that, I am thankful.