By Jett Goldsmith –
The View –
Junior Mike Malone came to IHOP for bacon and eggs. But because he was wearing green — and it was St. Patrick’s Day — he got free pancakes, too.
“I think it’s a really good promotion and more students should take advantage of it,” he said.
On March 17, any person wearing green who walked in the door of the International House of Pancakes (IHOP) off Meadows Boulevard before 11 a.m. received a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes. The promotion was part of a tradition by the company to honor national holidays with a serving of what they do best.
Since 2006, IHOP has offered a free short stack of pancakes to any customer on what “National Pancake Day,” an annual event which the company says has raised $16 million for charitable organizations since its inception. This year, the event fell on March 3rd, and although the numbers haven’t been calculated yet, IHOP says its goal was to raise $3.5 million for the Children’s Miracle Network, a non-profit children’s hospital organization.
But the tradition of charity and free pancakes has extended beyond National Pancake Day. Now, the IHOP in Castle Rock and many more throughout the country offer the same free short stack of pancakes in celebration of many national holidays.
“Promotions like these are always good for our tips,” said an IHOP server, who did not want to give her name because her manager hadn’t authorized any media communication. “And every time we run them, we see a lot of Castle View students here. On National Pancake Day this year, we got hordes of kids come in with their friends to claim their free pancakes.”
Because the St. Patrick’s Day promotion ended at 11 a.m., students lucky enough to have first or second period off were the only ones able to take advantage of the deal. The restaurant was sparsely populated with Castle View students by 11, but a few tables filled up during lunch from 11:10 to noon.
Servers at the restaurant say they “definitely” plan to run the promotion next year, so students who missed out on free pancakes this year have something to look forward to.
