Sport Clips Helping Heroes at Home

Sport Clips*’ founder Gordon Logan served as an Aircraft Commander in the United States Air Force, and upon starting the brand made helping and supporting veterans a key part of the company’s mission. With a franchise system of more than 1,500 locations in the U.S. and Canada, including a presence in all 50 states, that mission is more important than ever.

One of the biggest ways Sport Clips franchisees work to support their local communities is through the company’s flagship Help a Hero program. Started in 2007 as a way to give deployed and hospitalized service members a way to call their loved ones though the VFW’s Operation Uplink Free Call Days initiative, Help a Hero has now grown into something much bigger as more troops begin returning home.

“In 2013, with the drawdown in troops, Sport Clips set out on a new mission – to help returning U.S. service members make the transition from the battlefield to the workplace a little easier,” said Sport Clips corporate communications manager Amanda Palm. “That year, we worked with the VFW to expand the program and introduced the VFW’s ‘Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship’ program, which provides scholarships of up to $5,000 to service members and veterans pursuing education at post-secondary schools, including trade schools.”

This year’s campaign ran from October 17^th through Veteran’s Day, with a system-wide goal to raise one million dollars. Funds were raised through in-store collection as well as community bake sales, silent auctions, and other special events.

Recipients of the Help a Hero Scholarship receive up to $5,000 to be used for tuition as they work toward a civilian career. Sport Clips hopes that by removing some of the stress of paying for school, veterans will be able to focus more on their schoolwork and their families.

“Not all U.S. service members or veterans qualify 100 percent for GI Bill benefits, and military tuition assistance has some limitations, so our scholarship works to fill those gaps,” said Palm. “Our hope is to reach our 2016 goal of $1 million and to continue to provide scholarships for service members and veterans long into the future.”

In addition to the Help a Hero campaign, which to date has awarded 580 scholarships totaling more than $2.4 million, Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of the Ageless Aviation Dreams Foundation, the Aleethia Foundation, and The Patriot Foundation.

It is never easy for a returning veteran to reintegrate back into their community, but Sport Clips and their great local owners are working to make the process just a little bit easier.