The Shelby Rotary Club’s annual fundraiser on Saturday morning will give the community a chance to eat pancakes and test-drive a new Ford vehicle – just not at the same time. For the first time, the Rotary Club is combining their 20th annual Pancake Breakfast with the Drive 4 UR Community event, sponsored by Ford Motor Company and Donley Ford of Shelby.
“This year we decided that we would make this fundraising effort one large event so that our supporters could all come on one day and make a large impact,” said Jake Penwell, president of the Shelby Rotary Club.
Both the pancake breakfast and the Drive 4 UR Community event will take place on Saturday, Oct. 11 at Shelby Middle School, located at 109 West Smiley Avenue in Shelby. All you can eat pancakes along with sausage, coffee, juice, milk and tea will be cooked and served by Shelby Rotarians from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the commons area of Shelby Middle School. The Drive 4 UR Community event will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Shelby Middle School parking lot. Tickets for the breakfast are a $5 donation for adults and a $3 donation for children ages 12 and under, available for purchase at the door.
The Drive 4 UR Community event involves taking a very short test drive in a brand-new Ford vehicle brought to the middle school by Donley Ford of Shelby. Participants must be 18 or older with a valid driver’s license, and the drive will be through a local neighborhood with the route clearly marked. Penwell said their goal is to have 300 unique addresses participate in the test drive.
“For instance, husband and wife cannot use the same home address to drive but if they have another piece of property like a vacation home or land somewhere else, they can use that address for the drive,” he explained. “College students can also use their school addresses.”
The test drive does not cost participants a dime, but for every drive taken on Saturday Ford Motor Company will donate $20 to the Shelby Rotary Club. All participants in the test drive will also be able to register to win an iPad mini donated by Donley Ford of Shelby.
Penwell emphasized the test drive is not a way for Donely Ford to give a sales pitch; rather, it is a way to help raise money for the Shelby Rotary Club.
“It’s a great way to help Shelby Rotary Club make money without having to buy anything,” said Penwell. “The greatest part is that everything Shelby Rotary Club raises on Saturday will all be donated back to the community, which makes the fundraising even more exciting.”
The Shelby Rotary Club is made up of 34 members and has been in existence since 1926. The club donates money and performs service projects throughout the community, including Adopt-A-Highway, donating dictionaries to third graders in Shelby, supporting the Big Red Bookshelf project, and many more. The service-based organization lives by the motto, “Service above self.”
In the second year of the Drive 4 UR Community event paired with the long-running pancake breakfast, Penwell said he is grateful to the Ford Motor Company as well as Donley Ford for their service to the Shelby Rotary Club and the community.
“They have been wonderful partners and are so very helpful with every detail; we never anticipated being able to host another drive event but we know that we can do even better this time,” said Penwell. “We as a club look forward to combining the events and having a successful fundraising day.”
“The greatest part is that everything Shelby Rotary Club raises on Saturday will all be donated back to the community, which makes the fundraising even more exciting,” said Jake Penwell
