Have you been counting down the days until you could snag a free Short Stack at IHOP? Unfortunately, you’ll have to wait a little bit longer. 

For more than 15 years IHOP has celebrated National Pancake Day by giving guests a free Short Stack of their signature buttermilk pancakes vehicle also supporting Children’s Miracle Network and other charity partners. With the safety of guests and team members in mind, IHOP is cancelling the one-day celebration. 

Don’t put away your syrup just yet! IHOP is turning the celebration into a month-long event, issuing an IOU for a free Short Stack to be redeemed throughout the month of April. 

“At IHOP, our top priority is the safety of our guests and team members,” said Jay Johns, President at IHOP. “Given nothing about this past year has been ordinary – and while we look forward to celebrating National Pancake Day with guests under our blue roof in the future – we recognize it’s not possible to gather millions of our closest family and friends in our restaurants on a single day this year. As a result, we decided to flip National Pancake Day on its head and give our guests an entire month to redeem their free Short Stack with an IOU, while also continuing to put purpose behind our pancakes by giving back to those most in need: our charity partners.”

IHOP is giving its nearly 9 million existing MyHOP email club members – and those who register for MyHOP by Mar. 31, 2021 – an IOU coupon good for a free Short Stack of buttermilk pancakes starting on Apr. 1, 2021. That coupon can be redeemed throughout the month of April in-restaurant or to-go via IHOP.com or the IHOP Mobile App. Anyone who is not a MyHOP member can still get a free Short Stack during this time with a minimum $10 purchase in restaurants or to-go by downloading a coupon online or on the app.

Throughout April, IHOP is encouraging guests to make an on-check, in-restaurant or online donation for as little as $1 to support our national charity partner, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, and other local charities, including Shriners Hospitals for Children and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

“For the past 16 years, funds raised during IHOP’s National Pancake Day have helped local children’s hospitals treat millions of kids and their families,” said Teri Nestel, president and CEO of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “We are grateful to IHOP’s customers and franchisees for confronting the many challenges of 2020 and adopting a month-long fundraising campaign to help us continue to change kids’ health, and change the future – for all of us.”