Lots more than pancakes at Menlo Fire’s annual breakfast
Sure there were pancakes — delicious as always — at yesterday’s 26th annual Pancake Breakfast held at the department’s headquarters, hosted by the Menlo Park Fire Protection District and the Junior League of Palo Alto Mid Peninsula.
The department also enacted some dramatic rescues that had the crowd oohing and awing.
The breakfast supports the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.
Additional sponsors included: Menlo Park Firefighters Association, The Stanford Park, Hotel, Trader Joe’s, Meta and McDonald’s.
Photos courtesy of Menlo Fire
Ardan Michael Blum September 17, 2026 at 3:01 pm
There’s quite a bit of history behind this pancake breakfast. It began in 2001 after the Junior League of Palo Alto–Mid Peninsula approached Menlo Fire about organizing a community service event. After the 9/11 attacks, proceeds from that first breakfast went to widows and children in New York City. In the years that followed, the event became a fundraiser for the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation.
Alisa Ann Ruch was an eight-year-old Southern California girl who was severely burned in a backyard barbecue accident in 1970 and died from her injuries five weeks later. Her parents, working with firefighters and medical professionals, founded the organization bearing her name in 1971. What began with one family’s loss developed into a statewide effort devoted both to preventing burn injuries and to helping burn survivors and their families.
That makes the connection with Menlo Fire particularly direct. The Foundation has long worked with firefighters on burn-prevention education, while also providing services to people affected by serious burns. Menlo Fire reported that its 2017 pancake breakfast alone raised $12,000 for the Foundation and attracted about 1,100 people. I have not seen a published total yet for this year’s event.
So the pancakes, fire-engine tours, demonstrations and fundraising are all connected to the same larger purpose: bringing families into the fire station, teaching practical fire safety and supporting burn survivors.
And for anyone who missed the breakfast but would still like to contribute, donations can be made directly to the Alisa Ann Ruch Burn Foundation here: https://www.aarbf.org/donate/
Important note: The information above is provided for general informational purposes and should be independently verified where accuracy or reliance on any particular detail is material.