1,483 pancakes! IHOP fundraiser for kids is about giving—and eating
February 6th, 2013 Posted in Arts and LifeLOGAN—Local restaurants may have seemed unusually vacant Tuesday night, even for a weekday in Cache Valley. But one restaurant found weekend-style success, offering something even “Taco Tuesday” couldn’t compete with: free pancakes.
Members of the Logan IHOP staff, Miss Cache Valley Lindsey Lopez, and Primary Children’s Hospital representatives Lora Lee and Jocelyn McCracken celebrate IHOP’s pancake Tuesday. JESSICA SONDEREGGER photo
There were lines out the door Tuesday night for the Logan IHOP’s seventh annual National Pancake Day—a day to celebrate short stacks, local beauty queens and the common goal of three organizations to raise money for local children’s hospitals. Logan’s International House of Pancakes, at 1040 N. Main St., flipped 1,483 free pancakes.
Lindsey Lopez— the reigning Miss Cache Valley—says the flapjack extravaganza serves to “bridge the gap between free pancakes and a good cause.”
“It’s less about getting,” she said, “and more about giving.”
National Pancake Day is a three-way collaboration linking the Children’s Miracle Network, the Miss America Organization and the International House of Pancakes Restaurant, Lopez said.
For the past month, IHOP restaurants across the nation have hosted fundraisers in support of the Children’s Miracle Network—an organization dedicated to raising money for children’s hospitals and the official platform for the Miss America Organization. All proceeds from Miss America pageants and projects throughout the year support the Children’s Miracle Network.
IHOP hosts National Pancake Day once a year to contribute to those donations. With every free pancake given, all three organizations invite customers to donate the money that would have been spent on their meal.
“It’s our goal that we double what we made last year,“ Lopez said. Even IHOP waiters and waitresses contribute their tips to the fundraiser.
“These people are practically working for free today,” Lopez said. “The heart of this program is to give.”
Lora Lee, a Primary Children’s Hospital representative, explained that the money earned through the national fundraiser would be donated to each location’s designated charity. For Logan and other Utah locations, the earnings will go Primary Children’s Hospital of Salt Lake City.
“We’re hoping that Logan—Cache Valley—will show what we’ve got,” Lee said. “100 percent of that dollar goes to the children.”
IHOP restaurants nationwide were dedicated to similar goals and offering the same experience: a free short stack and the opportunity to mingle with local beauty queens and to donate to local children.
In preparation for National Pancake Day 2014, IHOP manager Karlene Buckingham suggests that locals need to start talking. “Word of mouth is the best advertisement,” Buckingham said.
TP
Tags: Children's Miracle Network, International House of Pancakes, National Pancake Day, Primary Childrens Hospital
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