IHOP restaurants nationwide will celebrate National Pancake Day on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 from 7 am to 10 pm and offer each guest a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes. In return, IHOP will ask guests to donate what they would have paid for the pancakes, or more, to Children’s Miracle Network or other local charities. This year, IHOP restaurants around the country hope to raise $1,000,000, which will benefit children’s hospitals and other charities throughout the U.S. To find a local IHOP or to donate online, visit www.ihoppancakeday.com .

Throughout the year, Northside Hospital hosts community blood drives at each
of its hospitals in Atlanta, Forsyth and Cherokee. According to the
American Red Cross, about four million people need blood each year in the
United States, which equates to one person every two seconds. The need for
blood is ongoing because unused blood has an expiration of 42 days.

A single blood donation can be separated into components – red blood cells,
platelets and plasma - to help at least three patients. Red blood cells
help accident victims, surgery patients and those with anemia. Platelets