Today is National Pancake Day. Normally this would mean free pancakes at IHOP today. But this year, IHOP will celebrate National Pancake Day a week later. IHOP restaurants nationwide will offer free pancakes next Tuesday, February 28, 2012. For 15 hours (7am to 10pm), each guest can have a free short stack of IHOP’s buttermilk pancakes.
The free annual event is actually a fund raiser for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. On National Pancake Day, IHOP guests are invited to make a voluntary donation to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In the Portland area, IHOP’s fund-raiser will benefit Doernbecher Children’s Hospital. BTW, there are six IHOP restaurants in the Portland-Vancouver area (use the IHOP locator to find other locations).
Last year, pancake lovers donated over $2.5 million to children’s charities. This year, IHOP’s goal is to raise $2.7 million. The fundraiser is IHOP’s seventh consecutive National Pancake Day fund raising event. Pancake Day is actually a tradition that dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products — hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.
[Update: Miss Oregon Caroline McGowan will be on hand from 7 to 11 a.m. to flip and serve pancakes to guests at the IHOP at 9840 NE Cascades Parkway in Portland.]
