MIAMI (CBS4) — There’s nothing like a short stack of pancakes, slathered in butter and drenched with syrup. If you can afford the calories, you can definitely afford the price because Tuesday, March 1st is National Pancake Day when one major national pancake chain wants to feed you flapjacks for free.

On what they’ve dubbed National Pancake Day, IHOP restaurants across South Florida and nationwide will be offering anyone who walks through the door a free short stack of buttermilk pancakes from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. as part of a fundraising effort for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

In exchange for the free pancakes, IHOP asks customers to donate what they would have paid for the pancakes, or more, to the Children’s Miracle Network. In South Florida, the money raised goes to Miami Children’s Hospital.

“IHOP’s National Pancake Day has become a highly anticipated annual event in communities throughout the United States, and provides our guests a fun opportunity to support the efforts of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities,” said Jean Birch, IHOP’s president. “Last year, we surpassed our goal of raising $5 million in our first five years, and this year we are raising the bar again with our most ambitious fundraising goal to date.”

The free pancake offer is no small undertaking for the restaurant chain. Last year IHOP gave away more than 4 million pancakes and raised over $2.1 million in support of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and other local charities. IHOP hopes the program in 2011 will raise $2.3 million for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

For more information about IHOP’s National Pancake Day, or to learn more about Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and make an online donation, visit http://www.ihoppancakeday.com/.

And did you know that Pancake Day is a tradition that dates back several centuries to when the English prepped for fasting during Lent. Strict rules prohibited the eating of all dairy products during Lent, so pancakes were made to use up the supply of eggs, milk, butter and other dairy products, hence the name Pancake Tuesday, or Shrove Tuesday.