ZELIENOPLE — Money raised at the Zelienople Rotary Club's annual spring pancake and sausage breakfast will benefit a borough man by helping with his medical costs.

The all-you-can-eat event set for April 6 will aid Emil Steinmetz, 44, a volunteer firefighter for the Harmony Volunteer Fire Company, who suffered a heart attack in February 2006.

Since then, he has had a pacemaker and is on the heart transplant waiting list.

The medical costs have strained the family's finances. Steinmetz has a wife and three children.

Rotary will donate a portion of the proceeds from the breakfast to the heart transplant fund set up for Steinmetz.

In addition to pancakes and sausage, the menu includes fruit, biscuits and sausage gravy, and beverages.

Don Ridgley, club president, said the club does the breakfast as a benefit. Last year, the club raised money for the Cooper family of neighboring Fombell, Beaver County.

Brant Cooper was seriously injured in a sledding accident. The club raised $6,000 to help offset medical costs for the family, Ridgley said.

The club also had a breakfast several years ago that raised funds to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims.

Rotarian Tom Zinkham had suggested Steinmetz, a longtime friend, as the recipient of this year's charitable benefit.

<B>WHAT: </B>Zelienople Rotary Club's annual pancake and sausage breakfast benefit<B>WHEN: </B>8 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 6<B>WHERE: </B>Zelienople American Legion, 308 W. New Castle St.<B>COST: </B>Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children 11 years old or younger and are available at the door or from any Rotarian.