SOUTH PORTLAND (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- A daring overnight break-in at an IHOP in southern Maine was a major setback for the restaurant's fundraiser, but customers helped them bounce back on National Pancake Day Tuesday.
It was three weeks ago in the early morning hours of a Friday, South Portland IHOP owner Amanda Tanguay said, when two suspects pulled up. A donation jar for the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital was tucked away in the lobby.
"They broke the glass in the front doors, came and grabbed it, and left," she said. "We believe the two suspects that did it had seen the huge jar of donation money previously. We had raised well over a thousand dollars already that was in that jar."
Tanguay said they turned the experience into a positive with the outpouring of customer support, including a little girl who donated $50 from her piggy bank.
On National Pancake Day, 100% of the proceeds from the South Portland location goes straight to Barbara Bush Children's Hospital. IHOPs nationwide raised $4 million for the Children's Miracle Network in 2017. They hope to top that by another million this year.
"From 7 o'clock to 7 o'clock tonight, we're going to be mobbed," Tanguay said. "But you know what? It's for a great cause."