Jan 24, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Sport Clips Haircuts presented a check to the VFW Foundation for $1.3M toward veterans’ scholarships and offered free haircuts to veterans today. The donation event was held at VFW Post 7397 in Lenexa, Kansas, and marks the eighth year in a row of donating more than $1M for the Sport Clips VFW Help A Hero Scholarship program. Administered by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), Help A Hero has grown to be the largest scholarship program of its kind, offering service members and veterans support for education often needed in post-military careers. In addition, we’re pleased to announce that 175 scholarships totaling nearly $800,000 were awarded by the VFW for the spring 2024 semester.
“It is important to us as a company to thank and support others, whether it’s professional stylists in our stores or the sacrificial service of veterans and their family members. We provide ongoing training for stylists and understand additional training and education are often needed by our military to pursue civilian careers. These Help A Hero scholarships are just one way Sport Clips team members, clients, and product partners help us express our gratitude for protecting our freedom and help provide for the future education and success of those who’ve served," said Gordon Logan, Air Force veteran, VFW Life member and founder and chairman of Sport Clips.
As the nation's leading provider of men's and boys' haircare, veteran-founded Sport Clips began work with the VFW in 2013 to provide Help A Hero scholarships. To date, the program has awarded more than 2,900 scholarships totaling more than $13 million.
“We can’t thank Sport Clips team members, clients, and product partners for their kindness and generosity that goes much further than simply helping to ensure veterans transition home to start meaningful careers,” said VFW National Commander Duane Sarmiento. “The support we receive to provide Help A Hero scholarships positively changes the lives of our service members, veterans and their families for decades to come.”
More than $150,000 of the donation this year was from Sport Clips store owners, while clients, individual supporters, and Sport Clips team members donated the most generous portion of money raised in stores and online. Sport Clips product partners Direct Beauty Express, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Nioxin, Sexy Hair, Gibs Grooming, Actiiv, and American Crew also made substantial contributions.
The application period for fall 2024 Help A Hero Scholarships is open now through April 30 to receive up to $5,000 of assistance per semester, per family for service members and veterans in the rank of E-5 and below. To find out more, visit your local Sport Clips, SportClips.com/hero or vfw.org/Scholarship.
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About Sport Clips Haircuts
Sport Clips Haircuts is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas. It was established in 1993 and began franchising in 1995. The sports-themed haircutting franchise, which specializes in haircuts for men and boys, offers online check in for clients, and ranks #44 in the Entrepreneur “Franchise 500” for 2024 and was named a 2024 Top Franchise by Franchise Business Review. There are almost 1,900 Sport Clips stores open in the U.S. and Canada. Sport Clips is the “Official Haircutter” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises, and was named a 2021 Top Franchise for Veterans by Entrepreneur. Sport Clips provides “Haircuts with Heart” through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that has contributed $14 million to the VFW; national partnership with St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants; and other national and local philanthropic outreach. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of NASCAR’s Joe Gibbs Racing team, and partners with other NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com.