For the Reporter

The Valley Professional Firefighters, Local 1352 – serving Algona, Auburn and Pacific – host the third annual pancake breakfast and bone marrow donor registration event on Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at Fire Station 33, 500 182nd Ave. E., in the Lakeland Hills area of Auburn.

Firefighters will cook and serve pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, orange juice and coffee for a $5 donation to support the Benevolent Fund.

The fund directly supports the many charitable efforts of Local 1352, including Toys for Kids, the Auburn Valley Humane Society, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Firefighter Stair Climb, the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, the National MS Society’s Bike Ride and the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s Fill the Boot Event.

New this year

The Puget Sound Blood Center will be on hand, offering the opportunity to register as a bone marrow donor. It is a quick and easy process that does not involve needles, just a swab of the inside of the mouth and a small amount of paperwork.

Once added to the registry, there may be an opportunity to be a match with a cancer patient seeking a lifesaving transplant. The donor would then decide whether to move on to the next steps in the process.

Jamie Durkan, a Local 1352 member, completed the process this last year and ended up donating bone marrow that saved the life of a 38-year-old woman. Durkan will be at the breakfast and can answer questions about his experience.

Everyone is welcome to the breakfast and take station tours.

The Valley Professional Firefighters would like to thank event sponsors Top Food & Drug, Starbucks Coffee and Fletcher’s Fine Foods.