Creating unity through stacks of pancakes

Posted on August 16, 2022

Jackson Local Schools Foundation
Jackson Local Schools Foundation
Jackson Local Schools Foundation

In partnership with The Repository, every Monday, Stark Community Foundation is highlighting positive happenings in our community. Here’s to Good News Mondays! 

At the latest Jackson Local Schools Foundation board meeting, Susie Gindlesberger, Jennifer Herold and Janelle Winkhart were presented with the Jim Camp Visionary Leadership Award for their work with the Unity in the Community Pancake breakfast. 

Because of their time, dedication and vision, hundreds of volunteer students, teachers, administrators and community members came together to raise money and help struggling local families through the Jackson Local Schools Foundation and other philanthropic programs. 

For 12 years, more than 3,000 people from the Jackson Township community gathered in the Jackson High School commons and bonded over stacks of pancakes — more than 100,000 pancakes, 1,200 gallons of syrup and 60,000 sausage links, to be exact — to better the lives of students in need. 

Gindlesberger, Harold and Winkhart worked tirelessly for years to ensure the event gave the community a reason to share a meal together for a greater cause. Residents visited with each other, friends traded hugs and handshakes, students served senior citizens, children's art covered the placemats and chalk drawings lined the sidewalk to bring a sense of camaraderie to the community. 

With funds raised through the breakfast, two scholarships for graduating Jackson High School seniors were created. When the event reached its end because of COVID, the Jackson Local Schools Foundation continued the generous spirit of the event by assuring the survival of the scholarships and taking care of families in need. Jackson Local Schools Superintendent Chris DiLoreto often said that the ladies were "a miracle for those families."

The award, established in 2021 and named after longtime Jackson Local Schools Foundation member and board President Jim Camp, honors his years of service and those who share his passion for the school system and its community.

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