Swat Spotlight: Garnet Volleyball and Softball Teams Host Pancake Fundraiser

This past Sunday, the Swarthmore College volleyball and softball teams held a pancake breakfast at Applebee’s.  The teams served plate after plate of delicious pancakes to friends, family, fellow Swatties, faculty, and local Swat Athletics supporters.  The event was a great success and provided a unique opportunity for the two teams to work together; volleyball and softball are in different seasons and normally do not get the chance to collaborate.  The fundraiser was a great experience and we hope to coordinate fundraisers together in the future. 

Below, members of the softball and volleyball teams shared their thoughts on the event and even provided picutres.

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The moon was still glowing when the softball and volleyball teams arrived at the field house this Sunday morning. We loaded ourselves into two Swarthmore Athletics vans and made the ten-minute trek over to Applebee’s on McDade Boulevard for our first-ever joint “Flapjack Fundraiser.” Our objective was clear: serve pancakes, raise money. However, little did we know the challenges and excitement that lay ahead of us. At 7:30, once we were all assembled in an empty Applebee’s, the manager briefed us on our duties. We would be separating into two squads that would be responsible for serving the customers drinks, sausages, and pancakes, and then clearing their places and cleaning up afterwards. After this, it was all hands on deck for a quick training session in the kitchen. Then, we thrown in the fire; we were scooping butter, pouring syrup, fixing coffee, pouring OJ, and hustling through the restaurant with hot plates on our arms. It was like we were real waitresses!

 

Softball team member Danielle Seltzer ’13 shows off her waitressing skills in the Applebee’s kitchen.

At the end of the day, both teams thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Although we worried it was too early for most Swattie patrons, we are extremely thankful to those of you that woke up in time to come and support us. We would also like to shout out to Tom Elverson, Professor Rablen, and Dean Alina Wong for supporting our efforts as well! We would also like to thank those who participated in our silent auction in which they had the opportunity to bid on vintage athletic apparel and memorabilia. Overall, we loved the opportunity to do something to which we were definitely not accustomed. While serving the food was difficult and fast-paced, we were thankful to Applebee’s for allowing us the chance to test our skills in the kitchen. Once again, thank you to all the members of the Swarthmore community who came out to enjoy this morning with us. We hope you all loved you meals! Until next January!

-Swarthmore Softball and Volleyball

 

Two hostesses from the first Applebee’s squad await hungry customers

 

Softball members of the second Applebee’s squad await their pancake breakfasts