For many, the John Humble Pancake Breakfast was an opportunity to honor a deceased friend. Cornerstone Ministry Center opened their doors to the community March 17.

Pouring time and resources into the surrounding communities is what Cornerstone Ministry Center does. In order for that to happen, however, the ministry needs money for their programs to continue to flourish. Serving pancakes from their camp kitchen and asking for donations is one of their ways of raising money. Camp Director Moriah Merrill said that the breakfast’s donations are used primarily to keep the ministry and its activities running.

“It’s to help raise funds for the organization as a whole,” said Merrill. “To help cover costs, repair the camp and needs here at the camp.”

The breakfast was dedicated to John Humble, former chairman of the Capital Funds Campaign. After serving over 10 years at Cornerstone, Humble became respected for his enthusiasm to serve the community, support local businesses and bring children to Christ. Judy Virgili, Released Time director, reminisced about all he did and how much everyone respected Humble.

“He was a dear friend,” said Virgili. “He was always here and was always raising funds for us. He had a gift for that. He would go into some of the banks and some of the administrators would laugh and say, ‘John, what do you want now?’ He had such a good rapport.”

Around the same time as the breakfast, Cornerstone hosted another event, called Day at the Camp. The event gave children, from first to sixth grade, a glimpse of what the Cornerstone Ministry Center summer camp is like to attend. Parents could leave their children at the event and then attend the pancake breakfast or stick together through both events. Merrill said that Day at the Camp gives newcomers an idea of what they could be doing this summer.

“This is just a one-day event where kids who never have been out, can come out, meet the staff and see a little bit of what we have to offer prior to signing up for a full week of summer camp,” Merrill said.

Cornerstone Ministry Center is the home of Children’s Bible Ministries of South Western Pennsylvania, a non-profit, non-denominational organization. Merrill said that the Center has an interesting background.

“We previously were the Dilworth Coal Mine, that is where our facility is located,” said Merrill. “The Dilworth Coal Mine, which was owned by the [Consolidation] Coal Company, donated the property to our organization. In 2008, they gave us permission to come out to the property. In 2010, we held our first year of camp.”

Located in Jefferson, Pennsylvania, the ministry’s facilities are used as a summer camp for children. The ministry also leads a program called Released Time, an hour-long session where children from grade schools come to the ministry’s facilities and are given biblical instruction. The program has provided for 25 schools since 1970.