Pancake Day, originally scheduled for Oct. 23, is canceled.

The annual event is one of two major fundraising sources for the Iowa City Athletic Booster Club (ICAB), the other being stadium cleanup, with each raising $30,000 to $35,000. This group funds junior high and high school sports teams and athletic programs across the Iowa City Community School District.

“The quality of materials and the quality of equipment that the teams have wouldn’t be possible without the all-school booster club and the individual school booster clubs like Club West,” said Jeff Albright, who has been a member of ICAB since 2014.

Pancake Day, which usually takes place in the spring, was originally scheduled this fall to make up for the cancelation last year. However, due to COVID-19 safety concerns and questions about building access, ICAB did not know if they would be able to hold the event. 

“We got to a point where the school board, for the restart of the school year, came out with some quarantine rules, and some concerns about access to buildings, and the district wasn’t sure we would be allowed to use West High,” Albright said. 

The event has been rescheduled again for the spring of 2022. However, regardless of losing a year of funding, there is not expected to be a big long-term impact on the funding of school athletics, due to a decrease in spending last year, and the school also might be receiving federal funds.

Despite the cancelation of pancake day, there are other ways to support the ICAB and school athletic programs, such as through stadium cleanup or donations. 

“We encourage all parents to get involved and if their kid’s in a sport, just like the music auxiliary supports the music programs in a very big way. Without them, the stuff that we do would be impossible,” said Albright.