On February 23rd of this year, IHOP celebrated National Pancake Day, serving free pancakes to customers and asking them to consider making a donation to Children's Miracle Network. "Children’s Miracle Network is an international non-profit organization that raises funds for more than 170 children’s hospitals. Countless individuals, organizations and media partners unite with Children’s Miracle Network hospitals to help sick and injured kids in local communities. Donations to Children’s Miracle Network create miracles by funding medical care, research and education that save and improve the lives of 17 million children each year." (Visit http://www.childrensmiraclenetwork.org to learn more.)
The Miss America Organization has a very special partnership with Children's Miracle Network (CMN). In fact, it is the national platform for the MAO, all contestants raise funds for this wonderful organization, and Miss America is the goodwill ambassador for CMN. So, I was delighted to participate in celebrating National Pancake Day at the IHOP in Springfield, IL. I was one of several "celebrity servers" and had a good time serving the free short stacks of flapjacks to hungry-and happy- customers, while answering questions about my title, the Miss Illinois Scholarship Association, and the MAO/CMN partnership. It was neat to experience first hand how wearing the Miss Capital City crown draws attention and opens up important conversations with people. In the past, a crown may have solely represented winning a beauty contest, but now it has evolved into a powerful tool for influencing society as well as a mark of achievement and embodiment of everything the Miss America Organization stands for.
The most exciting part of my IHOP experience was when I was invited back to the kitchen, and they let me flip some pancakes! The first few were flops..but after that I started getting comfortable with proper pancake flipping technique! Haha! It really was a fun experience. I also enjoyed meeting the cutest little girl who came in with her mother, carrying a Disney Princess lunchbox--she looked so excited to meet a real princess! She was adorable, and I definitely had fun talking and taking a picture with her.
It was encouraging to see people making donations as they left IHOP that afternoon. Much of the money raised for CMN is raised a couple dollars at a time by people whose 'small' actions add up to a big difference. I recently visited the IHOP website to find out the results of this year's National Pancake Day fundraising (http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/index.html), and I'm happy to report that over $2.1 million were raised, and they have exceeded their goal of raising $5 million in 5 years. If you participated, thank you! It is because of you that it has been possible to achieve these goals, and your generosity is appreciated.
As Miss Capital City, the door has been opened for me to take advantage of our partnership with CMN and to really use my title to promote and raise funds for Children's Miracle Network through events like the one at IHOP. If you would like to get involved, it would mean so much to me--and the miracle kids-- if you would visit my website http://www.missamerica4kids.org/m.aspx?i=24788EEA3B471B and consider making a donation to CMN. Any amount helps and makes that "goal-o-meter" get closer to my personal goal of raising $1,000!
I fully support CMN and my desire is to be as involved as possible with our Children's Miracle Network hospitals here in Central Illinois. I have been working specifically with St. John Children's Hospital in Springfield, IL. One of the goals of CMN is to "keep funds in the community in which they were raised to help local children." So, when you make a contribution, you can be sure that you are impacting the children who need it most right here in Central Illinois. Thank you so much for your support.
Do you have any stories that you'd like to share about how Children's Miracle Network hospitals have impacted your life? Please feel free to share!
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