It's time to whip out those sweatpants and loosen those belts. IHOP's National Pancake Day is almost upon us.

That's right, let yourself get excited. Not only is the thought of a whole day devoted to celebrating the fluffy, buttery, syrupy goodness that are pancakes mouthwatering enough but IHOP will be giving away a free short stack of Buttermilk pancakes when you go to dine in this hallowed house of flapjacks from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to Consumerist.

While a free stack of pancakes is as good a reason as any to leave the house and eat at IHOP, there is an even better reason to get your National Pancake Day celebration on. In return for the free pancakes, customers will be asked to consider donating to the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals or other local charities. Since IHOP started this National Pancake Day celebration back in 2006, it has raised nearly $16 million to support charities in the community. This year, IHOP has a goal of raising $3.5 million for charity.

You may be thinking to yourself, "Didn't we just have Pancake Day?" Ding, ding, ding, yes we did! That was just a couple of weeks ago on Tuesday, Feb. 17. It's also known as Shrove Tuesday, or depending on where you live, you may know it by Mardi Gras, Carnival or Fasnacht. National Pancake Day is just a holiday created by IHOP to get people into the restaurant, give away some free pancakes and make some money for charity. Pancake Day, however, takes place on the eve of Lent where people partake in some pancake eating because they were traditionally forbidden from eating food like eggs and butter during that 40-day-and-night period. But really, aren't we just glad we get to wolf down some pancakes twice a year?

Photo: jeffreyw | Flickr

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