Brian Fletcher’s secret for the best pancakes is simple.

“You put a little bit of heart into it,” he said, as he flipped the flapjacks for this year’s Breakfast with Santa for the Ironton Kiwanis Club on Saturday.

This is the eighth year for Fletcher to man the griddle for the holiday event that is the major fundraiser for the club. An investment banker by weekday, Fletcher called on some past restaurant experience to keep the pancakes going.

Taking orders and bussing tables at the AEP office on South Third Street were South Point students Austin Johnson of the middle school and Sean Jaycox from the high school.

“It is fun to give people their food and take their orders,’’ Austin said.

Watching the crowd gather was Kiwanis Club president Steve Call.

“This is a fundraiser where we have some fun and get involved with the community,” Call said. “The children seem to enjoy it. And there is Brian’s famous pancakes. He is a graduate of the Kiwanis Pancake Institute.”

Money raised from this event and others by the Ironton club pay for hygiene kits for school-age children and diapers to be distributed by the city health department among other projects.

“Any funds we raise are spent locally,” Call said. “A lot of organizations want you to contribute to this foundation and that. Our philosophy is there are people here who need it and it should stay around here.”