Children's Miracle Network Hospitals is proud to confirm that IHOP National Pancake Day will take place on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2012. The seventh annual fundraiser will offer free pancakes to encourage donations that directly benefit more than 100 of the charity's 170 hospitals.

On National Pancake Day, 1,500+ IHOP restaurants throughout the United States will serve each guest a free short stack of IHOP's signature buttermilk pancakes all day long, from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. In return, guests are encouraged to make a voluntary donation to support the local Children's Miracle Network Hospital or another local charity. Guest donations have helped Children's Miracle Network Hospitals purchase equipment and fund a variety of life-saving procedures and treatments for seriously ill or injured children.

Setting its most ambitious fundraising objective yet at $2.7 million, IHOP's goal is to make this seventh year the most successful to date, and bring the cumulative total raised for charities to more than $10 million.

Participating IHOP restaurants will also raise funds for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals during the month of February through the sale of "Miracle Balloons" for $1 and $5 each. Personalized and displayed in the restaurants, Miracle Balloons offer guests an additional way to show their support of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and contribute to the IHOP National Pancake Day fundraising effort. Guests who purchase a $5 Miracle Balloon will receive a coupon good for $5 off their next visit with a $20 purchase.

National Pancake Day is the best known of IHOP's initiatives to support the communities in which it operates. Since the first celebration of National Pancake Day in 2006, IHOP, its guests, franchisees and team members have raised nearly $8 million. In 2011 alone, IHOP served more than four million free pancakes and raised more than $2.5 million in support of Children's Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities.

Visit www.IHOPPpancakeday.com for more information about this year's National Pancake Day. While there, you can schedule a celebrity wake-up call reminder, share your "Stacks for Good Acts" story to win free pancakes for a year, or make an online donation to your area's hospital.