National Pancake Day

Michael, Mackenzie, Miss New Jersey, and Kaitlin (NJ Champion of 2009) Celebrate National Pancake Day at the Brick IHOP.


On February 23, 2010, Michael & Mackenzie made their debut as the 2010 Champion Children for New Jersey. We [Mackenzie, Michael, my husband, Aaron & myself] were all invited out to the Brick, NJ location to try and raise money for Children's Miracle Network. Kaitlin Clutter, 2009 Champion, was there with her family, also. They immediately took us under their wing and were happy to answer any questions we all had about the journey that now sits before us! Kaitlin & Mackenzie went around from table to table, making sure that if people were eating a short stack, that they made a donation!

All the kids participated in some really fun events that day, which included learning how to make pancakes with Alex, the chef for the day, a pancake-stacking contest, and Mackenzie was even on the radio. Miss New Jersey helped the children for a good portion of the day, and even signed autographs for everyone!

Lou & Toni Maschi, the wonderful and generous owners of the Brick IHOP, were pushing everyone to the best of their abilities for the entire day. He really showed tons of support, not just for CMN, but for our kids who were there. He proudly presented all three children with a Pancake Day t-shirt that had been signed by the entire Brick IHOP staff, as well as tickets to the circus at Wachovia Center. We were unable to go due to snow, and so Lou made sure we got tickets to see the Philadelphia Flyers [our favorite hockey team!] a few weeks later. Lou, Toni, and their entire staff are the reason that CMN touches so many. They truly helped spread the word about the cause behind the donation, and it SHOWED! We found out just a few days ago from our NJ CMN Representative that the Brick, NJ IHOP that we were at was the #1 fundraising restaurant in the country; bringing in a whopping $14,000+ for the day! Overall, over $2.3 million dollars was contributed from IHOP's all over the nation. We were just proud to be apart of that, whether we were #1 or not.

Right now, we are looking ahead to the Ramapo Dance Marathon at the end of April. Until then you can check out our caringbridge website, created in memory of my mother, and in honor of my children: www.caringbridge.org/visit/mackenziemichaelwight

Stay tuned!