Fort Belvoir hosting free pancake breakfast for area military community

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Next month, Fort Belvoir will host a free pancake breakfast — open to all National Capital Region service members, military retirees, Defense Department civilians, contractors and their families — thanks to a grand prize won by its commissary last fall.

The J.M. Smucker Company awarded the Fort Belvoir Commissary its 9th annual “Mission: Breakfast” prize for building the most creative product display of Smucker’s products and increasing commissary sales last June. According to Melissa Brigham, designer of the winning display, she and store administrator Meralie Ervin wanted to do something unique for the annual competition, beat out other stateside commissaries for the top prize, and give back to the base.

“I wanted to do something for the kids … our future troops,” said Brigham, an employee of OSCWEBco. “Then I thought, ‘What about a carnival?’ So we decided to do an indoor carnival and feed the kids [from on-base daycare] breakfast.”

Now, just in time for Military Appreciation Month, Smucker’s will serve breakfast on a much larger scale at Fort Belvoir’s Pullen Field on Wednesday, May 2 from 7 to 10 a.m. The garrison-wide event will include breakfast stations by Hungry Jack Pancakes, Martha White Muffins, Folgers Coffee, Tyson Chicken, Jimmy Dean Sausage and others. There will be a variety of family-friendly activities, live music from classical rock fusion group Spinphony, and lots of giveaways. Lending added prestige to the event, TODAY Show host and weatherman Al Roker is expected to broadcast live from the celebratory breakfast.

Fort Belvoir officials hope to draw between 5,000 to 8,000 people to the event, potentially drumming up enough attendees to beat the previous installation winner, Naval Base San Diego, which had over 7,000 in attendance last year. According to Ganesa Robinson, chief of community relations and social media at the Fort Belvoir Public Affairs Office, the installation presently is considering transportation and parking options, including bus transport. She said that group carpooling is encouraged.

Brigham hopes to see a strong joint base turnout at the event for more personal reasons. “This is my way to give back to the military and their families,” she said. “‎I couldn’t have done this without the passion and support that J.M. Smucker gives back to military families. We want to feed as many people as we possibly can. This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”

Although event registration isn’t required, Fort Belvoir is encouraging DoD card holders to informally register via the installation’s Facebook event page or Eventbrite. Fort Belvoir tenant organizations and mission partners with groups of 10 or more may reserve seats in advance via the Eventbrite ticket page.