A Mueller Morning With Purpose

On a bright fall morning in Mueller, the red velvet pancakes arrived at the table first—crimson, dusted with sugar, and already doing more than fueling the day. At Kerbey Lane Cafe’s Mueller location, leaders from the Austin-born nonprofit Marathon Kids gathered with the restaurant’s team to mark a season-long partnership that turns a beloved local breakfast into support for children’s health. The cafe has named Marathon Kids its fourth-quarter beneficiary, with a portion of proceeds from the October Red Velvet pancake special benefiting the organization. The collaboration will run through December, with new flavors still to come.

How the Fundraiser Works

Kerbey Lane’s quarterly beneficiary program is an outgrowth of its long-running community platform, Kerbey Kindness, which channels sales from seasonal specials and other events to local causes. For October, every order of the Red Velvet pancake at the Mueller cafe—and across Kerbey Lane locations—helps fund Marathon Kids’ mission to get kids moving and establish joyful, healthy routines. This initiative reflects Kerbey Lane’s approach to making philanthropy an everyday act: breakfast, brunch, or late-night pancakes as an easy on-ramp to giving back.

That practical spirit is woven into the company’s identity. Kerbey Lane opened in 1980 as a family-run cafe and has remained rooted in Austin’s neighborhoods for 45 years, extending support through programs that emphasize health, education, and families. “Since the opening of our doors in 1980, our legacy of supporting the community has been central to Kerbey Lane's mission,” said Kerbey Lane Cafe. The cafe underscores that commitment through Kerbey Kindness and other ongoing efforts to partner with local schools and nonprofits, according to Kerbey Lane Cafe.

Why Marathon Kids

Marathon Kids began in Austin and has grown into a national program that operates in schools, community clubs, and after-school settings. According to Marathon Kids, the organization’s free running-and-goal-setting model engaged more than 431,000 children in the 2024–25 school year across the United States, reflecting its scale and the demand from educators and families for accessible physical activity.

In Central Texas, that reach translates into thousands of students building daily movement habits—lap by lap—under the guidance of coaches and teachers. The group’s leaders say the Kerbey Lane partnership resonates locally because it funds evidence-based work many Austin families already recognize in their own schools.

Evidence in Motion

Independent and program evaluations show that Marathon Kids helps children reach recommended activity levels and stick with ambitious goals. Data from the organization’s evidence review notes that participation supports progress toward the guideline of 60 minutes per day of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity, especially where formal PE time is limited, according to Marathon Kids.

Program outcome metrics further illustrate how students persist over a season:

  • Among participants who set a goal of completing four marathons’ worth of distance (about 104.8 miles), 44.7% met or exceeded that mark.
  • 56.4% completed at least three marathons.
  • 69.7% completed at least two.
  • 87.5% finished one marathon.

Coaches overwhelmingly endorse continuing the program the next year as well, signaling that the model is workable in real classrooms and clubs, according to Marathon Kids.

A Neighborhood Hub, A Citywide Impact

The Mueller setting is an intentional focal point. The neighborhood’s central location and steady foot traffic make it an ideal stage for a fundraiser built on incremental action: a pancake purchase here, a few more miles for kids there. At the Kerbey Lane table, the collaboration feels neighborly and immediate—an Austin cafe supporting an Austin-rooted nonprofit that now serves children across the country, as described by Marathon Kids.

For families and regulars, the proposition is simple. Order the seasonal special at the Mueller cafe; help a child in a local school make progress toward a big, shared goal. In the aggregate, those small choices can add up to meaningful resources for coaches and clubs, sustaining a program that has proven its ability to get kids moving and keep them engaged.

The Local Through-Line

Kerbey Lane’s history mirrors the growth of the neighborhoods it serves, and its community partnerships have become a fixture of civic life. The cafe’s fourth-quarter focus on Marathon Kids also aligns with one of its busiest times of year, translating traffic into support for a nonprofit with a track record of measurable outcomes and broad participation, according to Marathon Kids and Kerbey Lane Cafe.

In Mueller, where the cafe’s dining room fills with early-morning runners, stroller squads, and families from around the East Austin area, the effort carries a special resonance. It’s a neighborhood accustomed to building things step by step—the trails, the parks, the routines of daily life. For the next three months, that same steady cadence applies to breakfast: every Red Velvet pancake in October, and each seasonal flavor to follow, becomes another stride toward healthier kids and stronger communities.

As the fundraiser continues through December, the call to action stays delightfully ordinary—stop in, order what you love, and know that a portion of the check is traveling beyond the table. In Mueller, that’s enough to make a stack of pancakes feel like a small act of civic pride.

Read the full story on keyetv.com

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