Serving public more directly

Cynthia Pelot has lived on the streets of Costa Mesa for the past six years — the first three she spent living in her car, but even the cost of maintaining the vehicle became too much.

“I locked it up one day and walked away,” she said Saturday at a picnic table at the Westside Costa Mesa nonprofit Lighthouse Outreach and Ministry.

Since then, Pelot has slept wherever she can find a place that’s warm and dry, she said.

“It’s a sad and lonely existence,” Pelot said, fidgeting with a metal necklace around her neck that she said she found scrounging for cigarette butts on Saturday morning.

Pelot was one of about 250 needy people local politicians and Newport Beach-based pancake mix company Daddy Cakes joined forces to serve at the Lighthouse Ministry and Outreach on Saturday morning.

Assemblyman Van Tran donned an apron and flipped pancakes on a portable grill set up outside the Lighthouse building in Westside Costa Mesa during the breakfast on Saturday morning.

“It’s a great day to come out and meet members of the community and give back,” Tran said. “It’s good to meet people who are going through difficult times in this rough economy.”

Costa Mesa Councilwoman Katrina Foley also served pancakes at the event.

The councilwoman said she gets phone calls and e-mails from constituents on a regular basis who have lost their jobs or who are struggling to make ends meet in a tough economy and wanted to do something to help.

“A lot of people are having a hard time right now, and I wanted to do what little I could to help.”

The Rev. Dale Fitch, who runs the Lighthouse Ministry and Outreach, said the nonprofit has seen a growing demand for its services over the past year.

The program serves about 4,000 to 5,000 meals a month to needy families and homeless people, up from about 2,500 meals a month about a year ago, Fitch said.

Donations, like the meal provided by Daddy Cakes on Saturday, help the program serve more people in need, Fitch said.

“A lot of them aren’t homeless — a lot of people pay their rent and don’t have anything left over for groceries,” Fitch said.

Newport Beach resident Dan Byers, who co-founded Daddy Cakes, which produces a line of pancake mixes, also donated one-pound bags of pancake mix for the Lighthouse to distribute to needy families in the area.

“Great food is so much about great people,” Byers said, taking a break for serving pancakes on Saturday. “Being involved in the community is important to us too.”

How To Help

For more information on how to volunteer or make a donation to the Lighthouse Ministry and Outreach, 1885 Anaheim St, visit cmlighthouse.com or call (949) 548-7161

For more information on Daddy Cakes, visit www.daddycakesbakery.com or www.facebook.com/DaddyCakes.