(L – R) VFW National Commander Doc Schmitz, scholarship recipients Jack Yarbrough and Cris Graif, Sport Clips Haircuts Team Leader Darin Bailey, and Gordon Logan, Sport Clips founder and CEO and VFW Life member presenting a $1.25M donation for the Help A Hero Scholarship program.

A $1.25 million donation by Sport Clips Haircuts to the Veterans of Foreign Wars Foundation will boost the impact of the Help A Hero Scholarship program that supports education for civilian careers. Sport Clips Founder and CEO Gordon Logan, who is a veteran and VFW Life member, presented the million-dollar-plus check to VFW National Commander William “Doc” Schmitz today at the VFW National Headquarters. 

"There's a common misconception that GI Bill benefits and military training are enough to secure education or training for civilian occupations, but that's often not the case. For many service members, additional degrees and certifications are needed to secure sought-after post-military work. There are 165 student veterans attending colleges and certification programs right now with the aid of Help A Hero Scholarships and more than 1,450 student veterans have benefited from these scholarships since 2014. This year's fundraising will make even more scholarships available to U.S. service members and veterans in the year ahead," says Logan. "We are so grateful to the men and women who serve, and to their families, and we owe the success of the Help A Hero campaign to our generous Sport Clips clients, team members, and product partners. It's an honor to say 'thank you' to them all." 

“To date, the program has awarded more than $6.5 million in scholarships, which places it among the top-awarding service member and veteran scholarship programs in the country," said Schmitz. "Higher education doesn't come easily to all of our student veterans. It often takes the support of scholarships or burdensome loans beyond what the GI Bill covers to get the education needed for meaningful careers as they transition from military service. Working with veteran-friendly companies such as Sport Clips is one way we can help make the transition from service member to the civilian world easier for veterans and their families."

More than $120,000 of the money was raised from Sport Clips’ own $1 per haircare service donation made on Veterans Day while clients, individual supporters and Sport Clips team members donated the largest portion of the money raised. Sport Clips partners Direct Beauty Express, American Crew, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Nioxin, Sexy Hair, Gibs Grooming  and Darlington Raceway also made substantial contributions. 

The Help A Hero program started in 2007 when Sport Clips first worked with the VFW to provide phone calls home for deployed and hospitalized service members and veterans. After the drawdown in troops began a few years later, the partnership transitioned in 2013 to become the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” program. 

Sport Clips is the Official Haircutter of the VFW, and its Help A Hero campaign is just one of the many ways it supports active-duty military and veterans. To find out more, visit your local Sport Clips or SportClips.com.

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, is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Fastest-Growing Franchises” and in the top 10 in its “Franchise 500.” There are over 1,800 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 “2018 Best for Vets: Franchises” by Military Times. Sport Clips provides “Haircuts with Heart” through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that with this year’s gift has contributed $7.5 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 Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR drivers Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Indy Car driver Sebastien Bourdais, and partners with numerous NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com. 

About The Veterans of Foreign Wars

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation's largest and oldest major war veterans organization. Founded in 1899, the congressionally-chartered VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With more than 1.6 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in 6,200 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS” than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans’ service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at vfw.org.