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Charity looks to 'Pancake the Quake'

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Matthew S. Werner

Photo

Phill Klamm

The day the earthquake hit, Matt Werner sent a text message to his friend Phill Klamm.

“Haiti?” it said.

“Are you serious?” Klamm replied.

“Dead serious.”

And “Pancake the Quake,” an effort to raise money and awareness for the people of Haiti, was born.

Werner and Klamm used to be wrestling buddies at UW-Whitewater. Now, the fellow teachers—Werner in Milton and Klamm in Edgerton—wrestle poverty and need through the group they co-founded, Wrestling the World.

They already “took down the tsunami,” “headlocked the hurricane” and “cradled Kenya” in the last few years. Now, they will “pancake” the earthquake that devastated the impoverished nation of Haiti on Jan. 12.

Werner and Klamm chose the name because pancake is a wrestling term, but the phrase soon took on another meaning. While surfing the Internet, Klamm learned that Tuesday, Feb. 23, is International Pancake Day.

Wrestling the World is encouraging groups and individuals to hold pancake dinners of all sizes that day to raise money for Haiti. A&W Family Restaurant, 601 N. Main St., Edgerton, has agreed to host a community dinner, and the group hopes to organize one in Milton, too.

But the dinners can be much smaller, down to inviting a few friends over and passing around an envelope for donations, Klamm said. People can donate to Wrestling the World or the charity of their choice that sends money to Haiti.

The group hasn’t decided yet how it will use the donations. It typically helps children or “people who can’t help themselves,” such as the disabled.

It wants to help Haitians after the first wave of donations and concern subsides, Klamm said.

“Whatever we do, it won’t be a one-and-done type deal,” he said. “It will be relationship-building.”

The group hopes to arrange a trip to Haiti during spring break. Many already have expressed interest in going, Klamm said.

Meanwhile, Klamm and Werner are getting the word out about Pancake the Quake. They plan to start selling T-shirts today over the event’s blog and will hold a “Show Us Your Pancake” video competition on YouTube.

If someone tells Klamm he or she is hosting a pancake dinner, he will mark the location on the blog’s Google map.

Werner and Klamm are impressed with the response so far, they said.

“As soon as we say go, everyone wants to help,” Klamm said.