Today, IHOP unveiled its first ‘Kid Culinary Team’ as part of the brand’s annual IHOP National Pancake Day celebration, which takes place next Tuesday, February 27 in IHOP restaurants everywhere. Partnering with its lead charity, Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, IHOP put out a call to current and former CMN Hospitals patients to dream up their best pancake creation for the chance to join the inaugural IHOP Kid Culinary Team and cook their recipe in the brand’s Test Kitchen. After receiving submissions from around the country, three finalists were selected for their pancake originality and inspirational stories.

Meet the IHOP Kid Culinary Team:

• Elise Bromund, of Greensboro, North Carolina, cooked up Chocolate Cat Pancakes with Raspberry Custard and “Chocolate Chippies,” dedicated to the adorable animals she loves. Elise has been battling Jacobsen Syndrome her entire life. Due to the rare chromosome defect, eight-year-old Elise has been hospitalized numerous times and today, is still being treated for kidney disease and epilepsy. According to Elise’s mom, “she has never met a stranger she doesn’t like; she befriends everyone, and she demonstrates unusual empathy toward people who are sad or hurting.” A bubbly child that brings joy to everyone she meets, Elise loves to sing and dance.
• Nine-year-old Starla Chapman from Mobile, Alabamacombined two food favorites—cookies and pancakes—to come up with an Oatmeal Raisin Pancake as a tribute to the warm, delicious oatmeal cookies she used to bake with her grandmother. Starla has faced an uphill climb since birth, having been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia when she was 2-years-old and subsequently suffering cardiac arrest as a result of the chemotherapy. Today, thanks to the care at USA Children and Women’s Hospital, a Children’s Miracle Network Hospital, Starla is thriving and loves to entertain on the YouTube channel she shares with her younger brother.
• From Plano, Texas, Sim Scott has had a miraculous journey with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Now 15, Sim underwent multiple surgeries, cancer treatments and physical setbacks after being diagnosed with a grade II/grade III astrocytoma brain tumor at age 6. Today, he’s a smart, caring young man on a quest to help others. In addition to having a first degree black belt in Karate, Sim is currently studying to become a Doctor of Audiology at the Health Sciences Academy. His pancake creation, SIMCakes—or “Super, Incredible, Mouthwatering Candy Cakes”—is Buttermilk pancakes with milk chocolate toffee chunks (Sim’s favorite candy), topped with whipped cream, sweet caramel sauce, and more toffee.

“Kids and families are the heart and soul of IHOP, so expanding our culinary team to include three of our youngest fans seemed like the perfect way to celebrate IHOP National Pancake Day and kick off our 60th year as a brand,” said Nevielle Panthaky, Head of Culinary at IHOP. “As a chef, it was really fun partnering with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and seeing all the different pancake ideas. We received so many great submissions, but our IHOP Kid Culinary Team finalists – Elise Bromund, Starla Chapman and Sim Scott – took it to the next level with their recipes. While I was certainly impressed by their creativity, I was even more inspired by their perseverance and positivity in overcoming such serious illnesses.”

“I’m amazed by all the miracle kids who submitted their personal stories and pancake recipes to the very first IHOP Kid Culinary Team Pancake contest,” said John Lauck, president and CEO of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. “I want to congratulate the three finalists – Elise, Starla and Sim – who represent what Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals stands for and will be fantastic IHOP National Pancake Day ambassadors in 2018. Partnerships like the one we have with IHOP and its franchisees are critical in securing the funding needed to treat the more than 10 million pediatric patients that visit our hospitals every year.”

The IHOP Kid Culinary Team announcement comes just days before the 13th annual IHOP National Pancake Day event on Tuesday, February 27, 2018, which is the centerpiece of the all-day breakfast leader’s 60 Days of Giving campaign. On IHOP National Pancake Day, guests can receive a free short stack of the brand’s Original Buttermilk Pancakes at IHOP restaurants nationwide from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.—with select locations participating until 10:00 p.m.

In return, guests are asked to help make a difference by leaving a donation of any size in-restaurant or on-check, with all funds collected staying in the community where they were raised. IHOP National Pancake Day and all related activities throughout the 60 Days of Giving campaign—a nod to the brand’s 60thanniversary—directly benefit charities dedicated to finding cures and eradicating life-threatening diseases that affect children and families, including Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals, as well as The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Shriners Hospitals for Children.