Sport Clips Haircuts Exceeds $1 Million in Donations to VFW's Operation Uplink™ Free Call Day Program

U.S. service members to connect with loved ones for a fifth year through Sport Clips' "Help a Hero" campaign

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Jan 31, 2012, 12:24 ET

KANSAS CITY, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sport Clips Haircuts today gave the Veterans of Foreign Wars a check in the amount of $450,000 for Operation Uplink™, a program that provides free "talk time" to deployed and hospitalized U.S. service members via satellite phone and computer. Today's gift tops more than $1 million overall in the franchise's five-year support of the program -- $1,311,777 to be exact. Sport Clips' annual Help a Hero campaign to benefit Operation Uplink has provided the two largest single gifts to the program, making possible more than 1.5 million calls home by the end of 2011.

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120131/DA44960)

Sport Clips Founder/CEO, lifetime VFW Member and recently appointed VFW Foundation Board Member Gordon Logan presented a check today to the VFW Leadership Team at its national headquarters in Kansas City, Mo. The donation exceeded Sport Clips' 2011 gift by $50,000 and represents funds raised by company team members and clients from 825 locations across the country.

"Even as we welcome more of our service men and women back home, our commitment remains strong to those who are serving our country overseas and in hospitals and their families and loved ones. We appreciate all those who worked so hard to make this milestone donation possible," Logan said. "We hear over and over how meaningful these phone calls home are to our troops and their families throughout the year, and it makes us all proud to know we'll be sponsoring 17 call days in 2012. It was important to me when I was overseas with the Air Force, and it's important to our troops overseas and in hospitals to be able to call home during long deployments."

Logan added, "We really want to thank our clients who showed support for our troops with additional donations and our hard-working Sport Clips team members who took time during their work day and beyond to raise money for our Help a Hero effort to benefit Operation Uplink."

Cassie Guy, team leader (franchise owner) of the Port Arthur, Texas store that raised the most money in the Sport Clips system, attended the check presentation along with store manager Mandy Smith. Guy says the store's team members feel driven by the purpose of Help a Hero and went all-out working before, during and after hours to hold garage and bake sales, a clay shoot, auction and tailgate at a nearby university to increase awareness and donations for the program. "I'm extremely proud of their effort and compassion," Guy said.

"Sport Clips' generosity to the VFW and its Operation Uplink program has been extraordinary over the years. Sport Clips has sponsored an abundance of VFW Operation Uplink 'Free Call Days,' totaling 17,610,355 minutes of free calls home for soldiers and hospitalized veterans," said VFW National Commander Richard DeNoyer. "They have made a remarkable effort to assist the VFW in aiding veterans and service members, and we are enormously grateful to Sport Clips for their ongoing commitment to our nation's heroes. We thank the entire Sport Clips family for truly understanding the significant debt we owe to American service members, as is evident through their most recent yearlong initiative to assist in our efforts to support the men and women serving in the Armed Forces."

Sport Clips is the "Official Haircutter" of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) and offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises. Sport Clips franchise ranks in Entrepreneur Magazine's top 20 "fastest growing franchises" and in the top 100 in the "Franchise 500", in the top 10 in Forbes' "Top 20 Franchises To Start", and in the top 50 in Dun & Bradstreet's AllBusiness.com "2012 AllBusiness AllStars". Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing's NASCAR drivers, Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin, and holds partnerships with several NCAA programs, and teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA), Major League Baseball (MLB), and National Hockey League (NHL). To learn about franchise opportunities click here, and for locations throughout the United States, visit SportClips.com. For media resources and additional information on Sport Clips, visit SportClipsMedia.com.

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