GOSHEN — They make pancakes — lots of pancakes. The Exchange Club of Elkhart County is even known as “The Pancake Club.”

And for every pancake they flip and serve, Exchange Club members are helping the community.

Although they are visible with the large amount of fundraisers they serve pancakes at, club president Bruce Vannoster said the club may be one of the county’s best secrets.

“I always felt we never advertised ourselves enough,” Vannoster said. “People say, ‘Who are you and what do you do?’”

To make the Exchange Club of Elkhart County a more familiar name, the club recently had brochures printed up explaining all of that. And yes, they do more than make pancakes — they also serve up 500 pounds of sausage — to accompany the 37,800 pancakes they serve each year. The club members also deliver 6,000 bags of ice to food vendors at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair.

The money — between $45,000 and $50,000 a year — cleared from making and serving pancakes and sausage throughout the year goes back into the community. In 2011, 25 community groups benefited, including CAPS, The Window, the Boys & Girls Club, The Center for Healing & Hope, Habitat for Humanity, The Salvation Army, Chamberlain Eye Glasses, The Post and Walnut Hill Day Care Center to name a few.

The first regular project of the new year is for The Post, a youth club in Goshen. The Exchange Club will serve pancakes and sausage from 7 a.m. to noon March 3 at The Post, 301 E. Lincoln Ave. That’s followed by pancakes and sausage at Greencroft — Greencroft raises money and sends it back into the community, Vannoster explained.

Todd Meier, past president of the club, said LaCasa’s Help-A-House is another fund-raiser. The club feeds all of the volunteers there. And then there’s the fair.

Usually about six or eight club members will volunteer to work an event — it’s whoever has the time. However, the fair is different. It’s mandatory. Everyone is required to work the fair.

Other fundraisers include LoveWay, Miles for Music at Goshen High School and the Bonneyville Mill festival. Bonneyville is the only fundraiser for the club. Money from that goes to capital projects.

The group also has been requested at fundraising events, including one for the Karlee Byler family last year. Byler, a 7-year-old West Goshen Elementary School student was accidentally shot and killed when a gun discharged when it dropped. Members also helped raise money for the Middlebury food bank.

“We just can’t say no to anybody,” Meier said. “We stay busy.”

Service is the goal of the group after all. Not only do club members give of their time making pancakes and sausage, they give of their money, too. And the club exchanges its services with businesses. “The name of the club is pretty appropriate for what goes on now,” Meier said.

Exchange Club members sponsor the soapbox derby — and for a while the club did the derby alone. Now other clubs are on board, including the Kiwanis, Optimists and Boys & Girls Club.

Members working together on all of these projects has generated a sense of closeness. “We’ve developed a real camaraderie among our people,” Vannoster said. If a member is in need or is having trouble, they are not afraid to ask the group for prayer.

“It’s a fraternity in a way,” member and past-president Bob Hawkins said. “It’s an integral part of life.”

Meier added, “Everybody has a need, a desire, a want to serve the community.” Members may not be rich and be able to give in dollars, but they do give in works. Many have a church affiliation. And many involve their families.

Meier involves his wife, Jen, and their sons. “I think we all have family involved when we can,” Meier said. “It’s important for them to see me do it and for them to do it.”

Family helpers are needed, too. There are 30 club members, with 26 of them able to actively participate. To keep up the level of giving and service work, more members will be needed.

“One of the biggest things we need is to grow,” Hawkins said. “We need to get some younger people.”

The Exchange Club of Elkhart County is looking for people who want to be active in their community.”

“I hope we can continue the number of projects we do,” Meier said. “If we don’t grow, then it will be harder to do. When (groups) have called and asked for help, we have always been able to do it.” That may not be the case in the future as club members get older and the number of people who need service goes up.

Interested in joining?

Since 1965, the Exchange Club of Elkhart county, comprised of a diverse group of people, has come together to serve the community under the national motto “Unity for Service.”

Each Tuesday from 6 to 7 a.m., they meet at the Oaklawn campus in Goshen.

Dues are $74 a quarter, which includes not only local dues but national dues and weekly breakfasts.

Those interested in the club can come as a guest and not pay or they can call Joe Stevens at 574-238-3321.