HAWAI'I KAI — Every Father's Day, the Hawai'i Kai Lions Club flips about 10,000 pancakes for the 3,500 breakfasts it serves at its fundraiser.

It takes about 80 friends and family of the Hawai'i Kai Lions Club and about three months of serious planning to serve up these breakfasts, the idea for which was cooked up by one of the founding members of the club 34 years ago, said David Osaki, club president.

No one quite remembers who it was that started the event, which has become a tradition.

The club is made up of about 47 members, most of whom are retired now, Osaki said.

"This is our only fundraiser of the year," Osaki said. "It funds all our programs. It's pretty labor-intensive."

The club's list of community involvement reads like a laundry list: Painting curbs and buildings, and helping with carnivals at Koko Head, Kamiloiki and Haha'ione elementary schools, and Kaiser High School; donating books to the Hawai'i Kai Library; building and installing benches in front of the post office, on school campuses and at bus stops; hosting the annual Lunalilo Home Christmas party and helping organize the annual Christmas parade; and helping with the Hawai'i Foodbank drive, beach-park cleaning, the annual Koko Head District Park Easter egg hunt and the Eyeglass Recovery Program.

Cecilia Lum, Koko Head Elementary School principal, said she counts on the Lions Club to help the school every year for its Keiki Karnival. Lions come in and count the money for all the booths, and at the end of the day, provide an accounting.

"Every year, we can count on the Lions," Lum said. "You know you can count on a group of people to support you in whatever you need. They also contribute monetarily if need be. "

That's why it's so important to have a sellout crowd at the Father's Day breakfast, Osaki said.

"It's been a good experience," said Richard Ohta, referring to the breakfast. "Every year we have this, and we get a lot of support," said the 30-year Hawai'i Kai Lions Club member. "I love the Lions Club for the camaraderie and the community projects."

Osaki, who joined the club six years ago, said the organization really works to support the community.

At the breakfast, members of the club, friends, family and Boy Scouts will be on hand to help, because it takes an army to produce all the food needed, Osaki said.

This kind of community feeling is what has kept Robin Bond and his family coming back to the breakfasts for years, Bond said. While this year Bond and his wife will be on a trip, Bond's son and his family will take a seat in the cafeteria to meet and greet other Hawai'i Kai residents.

"It's a Hawai'i Kai event, and we always see a lot of people," Bond said. "There's good food and good entertainment, and it's a great way to start off Father's Day."

Many of the Lions and their families will come the day before to decorate the cafeteria and bring in the seven giant pancake griddles — 15 square feet each — that are stored at Ohta's house. The griddles will be lined up across the front of the cafeteria, with Lions flipping pancakes from 6:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

"We'll be there at 4 a.m. and on Saturday, too, to set up," Osaki said. "Everyone says we do a good job. A lot of people who have been coming for a long time thank us for what we do. We get a lot of pleasure out of the breakfast."

Reach Suzanne Roig at sroig@honoluluadvertiser.com.