Veterans charity launched by Arlington Heights 5K is changing course to pancake breakfast

Salute Inc. — the veterans support organization that started in Arlington Heights with a Memorial Day weekend 5K run — is ending the race after 23 years.

But the Palatine-based nonprofit isn’t going anywhere, and it’s possible the event taking the race’s place — a pancake breakfast at Arlington Heights American Legion Post 208 — may end up raising more funds to help vets, injured military service members and their families.

“It takes a lot as far as planning and logistics to host a race or a walk,” said Mary Beth Beiersdorf, the organization’s executive director. “And so with the community partnership with the Legion, we said, ‘Hey, can we have a pancake breakfast?’ The main point of it was to make sure that we stayed in the community.”

There are more and more benefit walks and races these days, but the new event presents the opportunity to involve runners and nonrunners of all ages alike, Beiersdorf said.

“We’re not going away, we just changed it up a little bit,” she added. “Instead of getting to the finish line, (it’s) getting to the food line.”

The Honor and Remember Pancake Breakfast, from 8:45 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, May 23, will be at the same time the race would have been, and not far from the start and finish location for most of the last 23 years in Recreation Park. (The run/walk was at Lake Arlington the last two years.) The Legion post is at 121 N. Douglas Ave.

The traditional opening ceremonies will continue: the national anthem sung by Torron Crawford, greetings and announcements from radio personality Bonnie Greene, and a moment of prayer at 8:45 a.m.

Then pancakes, eggs, sausage, orange juice and coffee will be served inside starting at 9 a.m. Tickets are $15 for people ages 13 and older; $10 for kids 12 and younger.

Those who attend can write letters to veterans and pick up customized yard signs honoring vets or current service members. The deadline to order signs — which will contain a photo, name and branch of service — is Wednesday. To order, visit e.givesmart.com/events/NwC.

Since Salute started, the nonprofit has raised some $9 million to assist more than 27,000 military families with housing costs, utility bills, car expenses and food.

Also at a village board meeting Monday night, Greg Padovani, chairman of the Veterans Memorial Committee of Arlington Heights, detailed plans for the village’s 107th annual Memorial Day parade and ceremony.

The parade, which is one of the largest in the suburbs, steps off at 9:30 a.m. Monday, May 25, from village hall and follows a 1.25-mile route that concludes at Memorial Park. There, at 11 a.m., Padovani will read the names of the 68 young men from Arlington Heights who died in service to the nation from the Civil War to the war in Afghanistan.

This year’s honored guest is Allen J. Lynch, a Medal of Honor recipient and Army veteran from Gurnee who was honored for heroic actions during a battle in Vietnam in 1967.

“We bring the whole community together to honor the service and sacrifice — and especially the ultimate sacrifice — of our nation’s heroes,” Padovani said.