The smell of pancakes and syrup will fill the air tonight, luring UCLA students and partygoers to the third annual Late Night Pancake Breakfast hosted by Delta Delta Delta sorority.
The event will be held at the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity house on Landfair Avenue and will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
The breakfast is open to the public, and approximately 3,000 people are expected to attend, said Amy Baker, a sorority member and an event organizer.
“It’s a good way to get the entire community involved,” she said.
Danielle Roque, the president of UCLA’s Delta Delta Delta chapter, said that every summer the sorority sends two girls to its Collegiate Leadership Seminar at St. Jude in Memphis, Tenn.
Last summer Roque toured the facilities and was able to experience first-hand how the money raised benefits the hospital.
She said hearing stories in person from the families whose children have been treated at St. Jude touched her and reaffirmed the importance of the sorority’s charity.
“I know a lot of people go out on Thursday, and instead of maybe finishing the night at In-N-Out, they can come enjoy pancakes and donate to a great cause,” she said.
The money raised will go toward 18 new inpatient suites on a floor of the hospital in Memphis that has been named after the sorority.
The suites include attached parent rooms with a bathroom and shower. The floor also includes a teen room, family lounge, two nurse’s stations and a pharmacy.
St. Jude provides free treatment to all of its patients and shares any research findings at the hospital with doctors and scientists worldwide, according to the St. Jude Web site.
The national Delta Delta Delta sorority supports children’s cancer charities and vowed in 2006 to raise $10 million in 10 years for the hospital. According to the sorority’s national Web site, as of January 2009 sorority members have raised more than $6 million to benefit St. Jude.
Tickets to the breakfast are $5 and can be purchased at the door or from any of the sorority’s members. Attendees will receive five pancakes and a drink and can participate in a pancake eating contest and raffles to win gift certificates and game tickets. The radio station 97.1 FM will also be DJing at the event.
Elyse Rossi, the philanthropy chair for Delta Delta Delta, said that last year the breakfast generated $7,000, and this year’s goal is $8,000.
“We hope this year is bigger and better than ever,” Rossi said.