IHOP donates to help military children afford college

IHOP President Darren Rebelez on Friday discussed how his company has partnered with the Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation in order to help provide college scholarships to military children who lost their parents in the line of duty.

“For any Red, White & Blue combo that we sell in any of our 1,650 restaurants nationwide, IHOP will donate $1 to the Children of Fallen Patriots. That’s throughout the month of November,” he told FOX Business’ Stuart Varney on “Varney & Co.”

Rebelez said the company’s franchisees are also very passionate about helping families and children who are suffering from the loss of a loved one who served in the military.

“So over the last decade our franchisees with our guests have donated over $30 million to different charities around the country and children’s causes,” he said.

For Veterans Day, participating IHOP restaurants will offer retired and active duty military members a free stack of three Red, White & Blue pancakes or a Red, White & Blue pancake combo between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.

Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation co-founder David Kim discussed how his organization helps the children far beyond just providing military scholarships.

“We want to have a holistic approach to not only supporting their college needs, but also being a friend, a counselor, a mentor. That’s why we have five different Fallen Patriots graduates working at our program, helping their peers. We’ve been able to provide $19 million in support to about 1,000 students going to school,” he said.

One of the students that was helped and now works at the foundation is Haley Hartwick, who lost her father in Iraq after his helicopter was shot down by enemy fire.

“They have been more than a scholarship to me. They’ve been a family, they’ve been a community, that has supported me through the good and bad because they wanted me to succeed and earn the education that I deserve,” she said.