Ep. 50 - Pancakes for Roger: A Veteran's Legacy - The VetsConnection Podcast

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Scott McLean (00:00):
Welcome to the podcast.
I'm Scott McLean.
My guest today is Susan Combs.
Susan is the founder ofPancakes for Roger, an
organization that createspathways to improve the lives of
veterans and their communities.
How are you doing, Susan?

Susan Combs (00:16):
I'm good.
How are you?

Doing well, doing well.
Thank you for coming on thepodcast.
Thanks for having me Scott,yeah, my pleasure, thanks for
having me Scott, yeah, mypleasure, so let's get right
into it.
So you founded Pancakes forRoger.

Yeah.

And I want to keep the audience kind of on the
hook, because the name, as youknow, always has the question.
Oh yeah, right, so, but beforewe get to that, I want to know,
or we want to know.

Tell us about yourself and how you founded
this nonprofit.
Oh well, tell me about myself.
It depends on the day.
To be honest, like what?

hat, I'm wearing.

So pancakes are.
So I my my day-to-day careerjob is I actually work mostly as
an expert witness on medicalmalpractice cases all across the
country.
So I travel around quite a bit.
Somebody breaks somebody and Iillustrate how you can use
insurance as a model to get themexactly what they're asking for
, type of thing.
And I own an insurancebrokerage, but then the

(01:14):
nonprofit I founded the end of2023.
So December 2023, but it'sPancakes to Roger.
The concept has been aroundsince 2018.
So I know we're going to kindof jump into that story where
you're going to have me tell itand make everybody cry.
That's listening.

So you founded this, and now let's get into
that.
What is Pancakes for Roger andwho's Roger?
I'm sure everybody asks youwho's Roger, who's Roger, right?

And I'm one of them now.

So yeah, tell us all about it.

So Roger was my father.
My father was a major generalin the Air Force.
He served in three branches ofour armed forces for 39 years
and four months.
He started out as a MarineCorps helicopter pilot, then
flew helicopters for the Armyand then eventually transitioned
over to the Air Force.

He got smart and went to the Air Force.
That's right.
You know there's so many peopleI interview on this podcast, so
many.
They're all Marines and Army.
I'm like, where's my Air Forcepeople?

Yeah, well, I got three.
The only thing I don't have isCoast Guard.
So it's kind of a funny thing.
I mean my father so he was aMarines.
But the reason he was ahelicopter pilot is because I
don't know if they still do itthis way, but back then if you
flew airplanes for the, for theMarines, you had to go through
Navy flight school.
Navy flight school meant thatyou had to swim.

(02:35):
My dad grew up on a dairy farmin the Northwest corner,
missouri.
He was not a swimmer.
So he said, well, I want to bea pilot.
And they said, well, I want tobe a pilot.
And they said, well, you canfly helicopters and that means
you go to army flight school andyou don't have to know how to
swim.
So that's the whole reason whymy father was helicopter versus
airplane pilot in the Air Force.
I mean we eventually he had alittle Cessna and enjoyed kind
of you know, tooling around withthat.

(02:56):
But so, as the story of Pancakesfor Roger goes, my father was
diagnosed with AgentOrange-related throat cancer in
2008.
He actually retired from themilitary in 2007.
So just a few short monthslater he was diagnosed.
And you know, we had 10.
Relatively we didn't realizethey were good years at the time
.
But you know he had severalsurgeries and things like that.

(03:18):
You know we dealt with the VAon putting in a claim and I
remember, like my claim took,took three years and we thought
that was horrible until Istarted, you know, becoming more
aware of VA claims and theirprocesses and things like that,
and realize that the VA puts ontheir website seven years on
average on the claims.
And so in the civilian life my,my father was also a judge.

(03:40):
So when it came to the claimshe knew how to write things, he
knew he was a general and heknew the right people and it
still took him three years.
So the people that are havingto deal with this on a daily
basis I can only imagine,without having the resources to
assist.
But the last year of my dad'slife he relapsed twice and so I
was living in New York City forbasically the past 24 years and

(04:01):
I returned home to a small townin Missouri.
I grew up in Northwest corner,missouri, 30 miles from Kansas,
40 from Nebraska, 50 from Iowa,in a town of.
It was 986 people when I left,but I was fortunate enough, my
dad and I very much.
We were very close and thoughtprocess was, were very much the
same.
So very methodical, verylogical.

(04:22):
So when it came to caring forhim, I treated him how I'd want
to be treated and so hegravitated to me because of that
, because I could explain things.
I mean my dad used to.
We always used to say, like,give me the reader's digest
version of it.
And so we'd get, like you know,a two hour conversation done in
five minutes because we justcut through the bullshit type of
thing.
But he and I had like a systemevery single morning, I mean I'd

(04:46):
get up around five o'clock, I'dcheck in on him.
If he was good, then I'd go tothe gym.
I'd come back from the gym,check on him again.
If he was good, then I'd go getcleaned up for the day and then
I'd help him get kind ofrallied around for the rest of
the day and then I wouldliterally take my laptop and sit
in my childhood home at thecoffee table and work all day.
And you know we were veryfortunate enough to have hospice

(05:06):
at home.
My dad was an early doctor ofthe long-term care program that
the military offered right whenit came out, and so you know he
had his hospital bed and what wecalled his I love me room.
So my mom used to say I don'teven know why the hell we took
time to pick out the color ofthe paint, because he plastered
it full of pictures andaccolades and shit like that
that you couldn't even you'd seelike two inches of the wall

(05:27):
behind everything.
So it didn't even matter.
But so one particular morningdid that whole song and dance
and then when I came down gethim around, he wasn't in his
hospital bed and my parents'house the rooms go in a circle
so I just kept going room toroom until I landed ultimately
in the kitchen and my dad had aplacemat and he had set the
table and he was just.

(05:49):
He was ready for breakfast andmy dad had a feeding tube the
last year of his life and healso was on oxygen.
And I looked at him and I saidyou know, dad, dad, what are you
doing?
And he said I want pancakes forbreakfast.
And it just broke my heartbecause this was a guy.
For a year, I mean, he wasmilitary, right, you guys know
how to accept things and be likethis is my plight and this is

(06:11):
what the parameters are and thisis how I move forward.
And so he knew he couldn't eatand that was okay.
Sometimes he would saysomething smelled good, or my
niece Josie was born basicallywhen he relapsed, and so she was
around for a year and so hewould just hold the baby while
we would eat.
And I looked at him and I youknow, if anybody's listening

(06:33):
that have been caregivers knowthat if somebody's on oxygen,
sometimes when their oxygenlevels get low there can be some
confusion, and so that's kindof what we were dealing with
that morning.
And I looked at him and I saiddad, there's, there's nothing
more than I'm wanting to giveyou them pancakes for breakfast.
But so we're on hospice here,we have a DNR.
I said if I give you pancakesand you choke, I said we're
probably done here, and I don'tthink we're quite ready to be

(06:55):
done.
And he said oh, yes, I can.
Matt said I could, and Matt's mybrother and he's a nurse and he
wasn't there that morning.
So I knew we were dealing withsome some confusion for sure.
And so I looked at him and Isaid well, let me see what I can
do.
And you know, as every Midwestfamily has.
We have those little Pyrexpitchers and stuff like that and
my dad always wanted his tubefeeding formula heated up for 14

(07:17):
seconds.
He was always specific, asgenerals can be, cause he would
totally call me out If I did 12,he's like yeah, it's not warm
enough.
But I so I, I, I heated up histube feeding formula and I sat
out on the table and he lookedat me and he said what's that?
And I said that's your syrup.
And so his oxygen levels wouldkind of start rattling around
and he kind of nodded and saidokay, and a few weeks later my

(07:39):
dad would ultimately pass awayand so we had a funeral for him
in Missouri and then ultimatelymy father was buried at
Arlington and we had a fullmilitary honors at Arlington for
him about a year later.
And we've, you know, before Iwent back to New York, we
planned the service, and then Iwent back to New York just for,

(08:00):
you know, like four or five days.
And I took one day off of workbecause you know, your listeners
that have been a caregiver knowthat when that person passes
you kind of lose your purposeand it takes you a second to
just kind of find your footing,and so I just needed one day to
just shut out the noise.
If I wanted to respond to aphone call or a text message, I

(08:21):
could, but it was my choice andit just to give myself a phone
call or text message, I could,but it was my choice and it just
to give myself a little bit ofspace, because I had been in
such, you know, fight or flightmode, I mean, for the past
several months caring for him.
And my husband said why don't wego to the diner and have some
pancakes for your dad?
And it was just such a goodidea.
And so we went to the Bel Airdiner in Queens, new York.

(08:43):
My husband took a picture of me.
I told you know the story Ijust told you on social media
and I said you know, all of ourlives can change in the blink of
an eye and there is somethingthat every single one of us can
be thankful for every single day.
So, if you're so inclined, gohave some pancakes for Roger and
remember all the blessings youhave in your life.
So I mean, scott, it was justme talking.

(09:04):
I mean it was just me sharingsome of my heart, some of my
sorrow.
I just never expected what itwould turn into.
And so people started havingpancakes for my dad and, sorry,
they started sending me picturesand they said you know, I can't
have pancakes and not thinkabout all the service that your

(09:25):
dad provided for our country andour community Because, like I
said, my dad was also a civilianjudge and he was in the
military for, you know, over 39years.
And so you know, I I'm, you knowI had a father.
I had a great father, I willsay and I know not everybody
does, but it was like I wastaught you always got to find

(09:47):
the lesson and I was likewhere's the lesson?
Like what?
You know this, it can't be fornothing.
And my dad's birthday wasFebruary 22nd.
So we just had an idea and wewere, like you know, my family's
always been prettyphilanthropic, and so a dear
friend of mine, karen HuffmanGrinch, reached out to me after
my dad passed and you know my,my dad did well in life and you

(10:10):
know my parents always lived sofar below their means that my
mom literally has nothing toworry about now.
And so she reached out to meand she's, like I know your
family's, philanthropic.
So if you're thinking about acharity to donate to like you
know how people say whensomebody passes and instead of
you know, in lieu of flowers,please donate to X.

(10:30):
The University of Missouri has aveterans clinic, veterans legal
clinic that provides free legalservices for veterans and their
families navigating the VAclaims and appeals process, you
know discharge upgrades and alot more all free of charge to
veterans, grades and a lot moreall free of charge to veterans.
And she said, you know, Iwanted to remind you about the
clinic because, considering yourdad went to law school here and
became a judge and then he hadsuch a vast experience in his

(10:53):
military service, it seemed veryfitting and my family agreed.
So you know, we had supportedthat, set a scholarship up in
his name only for veterans thatwant to go to law school at the
University of Missouri, and sowhat we decided to do is, every
month of February, for everypancake loving picture we get on
social media, we would make adonation to the Veterans Clinic

(11:16):
in my dad's honor.
So for the first six years ofthis campaign, it was all me
kind of bootstrapping and I wasdonating my own money to it and
everything like that.
And then, in 2022, I came outwith the book Pancakes for Roger
A Mentorship Guide for SlayingDragons.
Because I was always taughtthat if you get a good piece of

(11:37):
advice, it's your duty to shareit with somebody else.
And, like I said, I had a greatfather and so I got a lot of
great, you know wisdom andnuggets from him.
You know my entire upbringing.
So the book is divided intofour sections self-love, family
and career and I mean it's it'swritten how I'm talking now.
I mean you're not going to haveto Google any word you know and
just trying to figure thingsout, it's very plain spoken and

(12:00):
so you know.
So when I did the book, part ofthe proceeds in perpetuity go
to the Veterans Clinic as well.
But again then I was likethere's got to be more than we
can do, and I'm somebody thatI'm a great person on making
quick decisions.
I have a good gut for it.
My successes in business havealways been when I've been open
to something, but when it'ssomething that involves other

(12:23):
people, I'm very slow.
I'm very methodical, I do myresearch.
I that involves other people,I'm very slow, I'm very
methodical.
I do my research.
I talk to other people thathave done what I've done before,
I've done it, to say, like,what would you have done
differently?
And so I took my time and I Iset up Pancakes for Roger as an
official non-profit in December2023 and because, again, I was
like we love the clinic, we arealways going to support the
veterans clinic, but again,again.

(12:44):
There's gotta be more that wecan do.
So you know, we've we've beengrowing and evolving.
I mean, ultimately we arebuilding an endowment because
probably this year is going tobe the first year we're able to
do it Um, which is prettyincredible when you think about
it, because it's really the onlythe second year of the
nonprofit um to provide grantsto veterans and that want to do
different projects.

(13:05):
And it's just.
You know, the thing that I'vefound with nonprofits is there
are some massive, wonderfulnonprofits out there, but you
writing a check for $2,000 to amulti, multimillion dollar
nonprofit, they're going to belike thanks, scott.

Yeah.

Have a good day, that'll.
That's pocket change, you know.
But smaller nonprofits you givethem $2,000, they can change
lives and in and so that's whatI've.
I've seen and so you know,while we're building the
endowment, we've been partneringwith smaller veteran nonprofits
to help make a greater impact.

(13:44):
I mean, there's thisorganization out in South
Carolina called Vets HelpingVets and you know I went out
there in February and we did apancake breakfast and those guys
are just you got to have themon your podcast because they're
doing absolutely incredible work.

I will, as a matter of after, after this
recording, I want theirinformation.

Yeah, I mean, it's so I mean, and I just I.
I know this is about pancakes,roger, but let me just tell you
because that's helping vets.
I mean I, I was blown awayBecause I know with the VA and
the military there's a lot ofbureaucratic bullshit that you
guys have to deal with, right?
So what vets helping vets doesis they meet on a weekly basis

(14:22):
in South Carolina and inSpartanburg, greensburg, or
Spartanville, greensburg, thatarea there's 33,000 vets in that
County and so they, these guys,meet together.
They have, you know, coffee anddonuts and then, like when I
was there, like I was in thekitchen making pancakes with
these guys, we had Marines onthe on the cook, you know
cooktop, and it was just, it wasso much fun.

(14:42):
And and so I witnessed theseguys and they, you know one guy
stood up and said, hey, causethey were like old business.
And the guy stood up that hadcome in with a cane and
remembered carrying his plate ofpancakes to the table, talking
to him a little bit, and he said, guys, he said you changed my
life with that ramp you builtand that deck you built on my
trailer.
And I, you know, I saw on theirFacebook pages they had

(15:04):
pictures.
And he said my dog and I arejust loving sitting out on our
porch, you know, just watchingthe day and everything.
And you know, since he walkedwith a cane, it was hard for him
to do the steps to get into histrailer.
So these guys build them atramp.
It's like they didn't wait onthe VA, they didn't deal with
any of the bureaucratic bullshit.
Seven guys showed up in anafternoon, build them a fricking

(15:25):
deck.
And then I'm sitting there andthey're like any new business.
And these guys are like Joe isjust beside himself, his
flagpole has been down for twoyears and he just really
desperately misses it.
One's guys like I got concrete.
One guy's like I got a posthole digger.
I shit you not.
This was on a Thursday.
I was there Thursday morningfor breakfast.
I looked at their Facebook pageon Friday.

(15:45):
Joe had his fricking flag.
It was amazing and I'm like God.
So it's just like.
So you know, we're we're doingsome support for them, because
all they're focused on they'refocused on construction and
transport.
So transport, like they'll giveUber rides to vets that need to
go to doctor's appointments andhave no way to get there, you
know type of thing.
So it's just like organizationslike them, organizations like

(16:06):
QRF Up it's another nonprofitthat focuses on mental health
for veterans and they're like akind of a disaster.
Well, I mean, what a QRF is,right, you know a quick response
unit to show up when somebody'sstruggling with PTSD and
they're at a very, very lowpoint.
And so they you know these guys.
It's an app they download, theyhit the button and within 30
seconds they get a call, a textand an email from somebody,

(16:31):
cause a lot of times, especiallywith PTSD, as I, you know, I'm
sure you can.
You know test two or some ofyour listeners know sometimes
you just need to talk tosomebody, yeah, and they were
like Susan, like 80% of our ofthe time we just need to have a
conversation.
Somebody just needs to knowthat you care.
And so you know they're like asmall grassroots.
You know effort thing that I'mlike.
You know what that pulled on myheartstrings, you know, because
the entire board lost somebodyto suicide and so they were like

(16:53):
we got to do better here.
So you know, with the whole.
You know pancakes for Rogerthing.
You know when we we started thenonprofit, I mean I, I have like
big, lofty goals andaspirations.
I mean I eventually want tostart like a soldier shark tank.
I think that'd be cool because,like I was thinking about it.
I started my first company at26 years old.
If somebody said, susan, here's$5,000, that would have

(17:14):
drastically changed everything.
I could have set up my website,I could have done my
incorporation papers, I couldhave gotten insurance, phone
systems, whatever I needed to,you know, on on that money.
And so I'm like, are we goingto be an organization that gives
a million dollars?
Hey, knock on wood, but like,but again, it's just like one of

(17:35):
those things that it's justlike, you know, having those
kind of like small micro grants,I think can make such a drastic
impact on people.
You know, there's I'm alsoworking with make a wish
foundation in New Hampshire.
I mean, my husband and I, uh,in the past few months, bought a
house up here and because Ialso think that New Hampshire
has a massive it's, it's veryveteran friendly, I mean, and

(17:57):
also, too, for veterans benefits.
When you think about it, I mean, new Hampshire doesn't have any
state income tax, it doesn'thave sales tax for the most part
, and then if you're a disabledvet, you don't pay property tax.
So it's just like if, if youknow, you're thinking, and it's
an outdoorsman's paradise.
So it's just like, so it andyou know, and if you drive
around New Hampshire, everyother town's a Purple Heart
community Pisa.

Influence Base was there for a long time, yeah.
Well, and I will tell you,there's actually 10 miles from
my house is a space for space.
Yeah, there you go.

And I stumbled, my husband and I, when we were
driving around looking at townsand stuff like that we someone I
was like he's like what thehell is that?
I'm like it looks like a base,you know, and it's just like is
he didn't grow up military?
And then I looked and I'm likeholy.
I said shit hits the fan.
I said we're driving over here,so, but you know, it's so, it's
, it's so rewarding and it'svery heartwarming.

(18:50):
But it's just like you know,sometimes it's just people just
need a little bit of help.
And so our work with theveterans clinic has been very
impactful.
I mean so this past February,because we just finished that
campaign we had set a goal of athousand submissions.
So when we started this I meanthis was our seventh campaign
when we started this we got, Ithink, about a hundred pictures.

(19:10):
I think we got about a hundredsubmissions.
But now we like get creative.
We're just like, hey, if youhave the book, if you have some
swag, if you have a challengecoin, if you have this, like
it'll count for multipledonations.
So we last year we hit 857.
And so this year we were like,let's set the goal at a thousand
.
So we ended up with 1,142.
And so we had some corporatesponsors that would match things

(19:34):
for the, for the money for thepicture campaign outside of
Pancakes Roger to the clinic.
And so we were able to makeover our largest donation to the
Veterans Clinic since westarted doing the picture
campaign and we donated over$13,000.
And the year before was $10,000.
So it was a big jump up fromthe year before.
But we got all 50 states,washington DC, 25 additional

(19:56):
countries and we got sixcontinents.
Antarctica hung out on me.
I got them the past two yearsand I was so ticked I was like,
come on, I usually just hit upthe base there and somebody gets
them for me.
But the thing is, if you're inAntarctica you don't have a
Costco to go to to get pancakes.
So it's just like if you don'thave it on the supply shipment
you're kind of out of luck.
So we did get Antarctica thepast two years, but but it's

(20:19):
just been cool.
I mean we we gave out awardsthis year.
We let the public vote on theawards after they're narrowed
down and the award winners wereactually on a billboard in time
square.
We gave an impact award thisyear to happen.

How'd you get that ?
To happen, silly me.
What was I thinking?

Yeah, but it was something that, like my company,
my sponsor and everything, butit was something that, like my
company, my sponsors andeverything, but we actually we
gave this impact award this yearto this woman named Angela kid
and she's down in Mississippiand she actually she forged a
relationship with a pancakechain, local pancake chain,
called stacks, and they havelocations in Mississippi,
tennessee and Alabama and sothis pancake chain set aside and

(21:06):
they did pancakes for Roger day.
So it's been this year has beenso cool, with just so many
great like just ideas.
And so we have somebody that'sup in Oregon that she is going
to do a pancake breakfast upthere for veterans on flag day
is what she's planning on it.
Because you know we're we're ayear long nonprofit.
Now we have to get our mindsetout of February because February

(21:27):
is what I was going to ask youabout.

That, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, so it's just like.
So, you know.
I mean we're we're going tohave a weightlifting competition
in New York on June 14th.
It's going to be flag day thisyear.
There's going to be one in NewHampshire either in July or
August.
We're still working on the date.
These are a couple of differentlocations that we're looking at
.
We're going to do some virtualchallenges, but you know anybody
that's just like hey, susan,you want to come here, let's do
a pancake rest.
You know, you know breakfast.

(21:50):
We've seen that like grassrootsefforts for raising money has
been great when we've just saidlike, okay, look, let's go, you
know pancakes, or Roger willpick up the cost of breakfast.
And then we have like flyerswith like QR codes and stuff
like that and say like, hey, ifthe story pulls on your
heartstrings, you know, justthrow us a couple bucks.
And so you know, when we'vedone that, we've we've doubled

(22:12):
our money.
You know, because it's justit's, you know it's a feel good
story and it's just like,especially the month of February
, we're not asking people formoney, we're just asking them to
have pancakes.
Talk about military service,talk about, you know, leave
leaving a legacy and how you canmake the world a little bit
better of a place too.

Everybody loves pancakes.

Not everybody.

I'd say the majority of the people like
pancakes.

There's the.

French toast people.
There's the waffle people.

I know those people .
Waffles are pancakes with abs.
We accept that.

There you go.

Yeah so.

I will tell you.
I suppose you're a pancakeexpert at this point.

Oh I yeah, but I'm the shittiest pancake maker in
the world.
I just I just told my husbandyesterday.
I said you know what I think Ineed to like do some YouTube
videos, cause I mean I went toschool for culinary.
I mean it's kind ofembarrassing that I'm a horrible
pancake maker.
So you know, but we, we get,because the thing is like
overseas, a lot of places willhave crepes but they won't have

(23:07):
pancakes.
So it's just like so.
But then we're like I have afriend that she just she hates
pancakes, eats pancakes.
She has like a visceralreaction.
I was like what about kimchipancakes?
What about scallion pancakes?
She's like, oh my God, I lovescallion pancakes.
I was like there you go.
I was like just be creative.
And so you know, we've gottenpeople that you know I mean we
always count waffles becausethat's easy.

(23:28):
But it's just, you know,somebody's like what about
French toast?
They're like do you have aclever name for that?
And I'm like no.
I was like yeah bread and eggWell and also, too, I'm like, go
to a fricking grocery store,take a picture of a pancake box.
I was like we will count it.
Oh, oh, you know.

(23:51):
But I will tell you, yeah, youdon't have to fricking, eat them
.
Like.
And also like.
We've seen people that likewe'll buy like a community
pancake and they just literallypass it around.

Take a picture and everybody at the table's
holding the same pancake.

Yeah, it's just like it doesn't matter and and
so it's just.
You know, it's kind of been funand like the the awards.
This year we actually wechanged one of the awards the
most smile worthy because we gotso many kid and animal pictures
this year it was insane.
So the one that won the mostsmile worthy was actually a mule
that was eating pancakes.
We had a pot belly pig that wassubmitted.

(24:20):
We had twins, we had like abunch of cute kids, but man the
mule.
So my, my grandparents, theirfarm was called the mule shoe
ranch, so that was pretty coolthat I was like, oh, a mule one.
I'm like I'm sure dad kind ofhad a hand in that, you know,
from above saying, okay, I thinkwe, we need to have more votes
on it because like I don't voteand so it's just like.
So people are like who's in therunning?

(24:42):
I was like I don't know, likeit's just like I have to absolve
myself from it.
I have plausible deniability toany decisions that are made on
who the winner is oh, but itlooks a little rigged this year
because my niece is one.
You know, I was just, I wasjust like, I was just like, oh
God, you know, I'm like Istarted looking at this and I
was like, I was like, but I hadnothing to do with it.
I'm like it's voted by thepublic.
I was like I didn't even decide, you know who the finalists

(25:04):
were, so I'm like it's totallylegit.

So tell us about the book.

The book.
The book is fun, I will tellyou.
Like you know, I've had peopleit's actually kind of cool.
So one of my friends, um AaronEckerberg he's a retired
Lieutenant Colonel from theMarines another Marine and he
was.
He was actually the MarineCorps representative at my dad's
funeral in Missouri.
So Aaron and I didn't meetuntil my dad's funeral and he
was purple Fox too and he and Iwould just been become really

(25:33):
cool friends.
He would be a good guy for youto have on because he actually
has a TBI clinic, that's that umis free for first responders
and military personnel becausethey get funding from the States
they're in, you know.
But he's a guy that he was likeSusan.
There's so many militarylessons in here and I didn't
know because, again, it's justhow I grew up.
So what he does is he.

(25:53):
Every single time he knows amilitary guy has a baby, he buys
the book for them and he said,because he said it's a guide to
raise a strong daughter or astrong son, and I mean that's
like such a huge compliment.
I had a friend that grew up inNew York city foster care system
and she was like Susan.
I got the book because she saidI didn't get good dad advice
growing up and she said I wantedto know what it would be like

(26:16):
to have a good dad.
And you know, and I recognizethat in the beginning of the
book, I'm like look, noteverybody has great parents.
I get that, and so it's justlike, but it's, you know, like
my uncle Joe told my mom after,I think, my brother was born.
He's like Gloria, people aregoing to give you a lot of
advice, take what you want andthrow out the rest.
I'm like not everything's goingto resonate with you because
not everything.
You know you're in differentparts of your life, but you know

(26:38):
it's it's written in vignettestyle, so it means it's kind of
just like quick hits.
So I think the longest chapteris like 10 pages but the
shortest one is like one or twoparagraphs.
So it's, you know, it's justfun.
Different lessons I mean, likeyou know my dad was big on, you
know, talking about like thethree facets of life, so that's
a lesson that's in the book thathe's like you know, when you
and I know a lot of millennialsand Gen Z, you'll be like oh and

(27:00):
.
And you know wellbeing, and I'mlike fuck that.
You know, it's just like.

I'm with you on that one.

So it's just like.
He's like, yes, your lifeconsists of so much more.
Right, let's get the caveat.
But he's.
He was like when you thinkabout your life, it really boils
down to three things.
He's like you have the placethat you live, the person that
you're with and the thing you dofor a living.
He's like if you're happy withthree out of the three, you're

(27:25):
living a golden life.
He was like even if you'rehappy with two out of the three,
you're really not doing bad.
But if you're happy with one ornone of those, you got to get
off your ass and do somethinglike so it's.
That's one of the things thatI've always thought about.
Like it's just like ifsomething just doesn't feel
right, I'm like okay, what's up?
Like am I not happy?
Where I'm living?
Is like work been extrastressful?
Did I have a fight with myhusband?

(27:46):
You know, like what's what'sgoing on?
Like what needs to be kind ofrecalibrated.
But then there's things justlike.
You know, drive the car wasanother lesson I mean.
So if you, I mean I know you'refrom the Boston area.
So you probably not as much,unless you were like tilting
cars and joy riding around, didit, did it?
So if you grew up in a farmingcommunity, you're driving at a

(28:08):
young age and so you know all ofus were driving on the farm
like I mean hell.
I think my dad was driving atlike seven or eight.
I think I drove for the firsttime like at nine or 10, you
know, and it's like you'redriving like tractors and farm
trucks and things like that.
And since my dad was a judge,you know you didn't drive on the
highway because we were goingto break the law.
You know, then when it came tohighway driving when we were
teenagers, my dad would alwayshave a cadence and he would say

(28:32):
drive the car, drive the car,drive car, drive the car, drive
the car.
So we had that in our heads andhe's just like he said look, he
said it's not.
You know, you can be the safestdriver in the world, but you
have to be aware of yoursurroundings and what's going to
pop up and you have to keepyour calm and composure when
something goes awry.
So I mean my dad wouldliterally jerk the steering
wheel and have us come off theroad and he'd just say drive the

(28:53):
car, drive the car.
So my brother and I, to thisday when we've like gotten into
skin on ice or something likethat, we're like drive the car,
drive the car.
And especially in the farmingcommunity, I mean, and like I
also grew up around Amish, youcan literally, you know, pop
over a hill and there'd be afreaking horse and buggy and
you're like holy shit, like, andthey're.
Basically you have to act likethey're stopped because they're

(29:13):
going so slow, but it's just,and you know, but the drive, the
car is kind of like a metaphorfor just like putting first
things first and like breakingthings down to, like you know,
just bite-sized nuggets so youcan understand, you can move
forward.
Like, for example, like when Iwas my dad's caregiver, there
was a time that you know we hadhad, I mean, anybody that's had
anybody in hospice that's been acaregiver, I mean anybody

(29:34):
that's had anybody in hospicethat's been a caregiver.
I mean it's like a freakingpharmaceutical, like insane, so
many things there, and so we hadhad all of his meds out and
then one morning he took hisnighttime meds in the morning
and so then he just was sogroggy and he just couldn't wake
up.
And he couldn't wake up.
And it was like when I wasflying back to New York and

(29:55):
every single time I went backhome I had to be like this could
be the last time I see him.
So when he did that and he tookthe meds, I was like what's the
drive the car?
And I was like, guys, we'reputting away all the meds, we're
putting away all the meds,leaving out only on the counter
what is safe for him to take atnight if he wakes up and he's in
pain and so then we don't haveto worry about like him taking

(30:18):
too much and things like that.
So it was just like stoppingyourself, looking at the
situation, saying, okay, what'sthe best thing, what's the
step-by-step thing to get youfrom A to B and make it work
that way.
So you know the book.
The book is a lot of fun, but Iwill tell you that my dad the
day after he passed away, I, mydad the day after he passed away

(30:40):
, I mean I'm, I'm a gym rat.
I mean I think if, if you're acaregiver, you have to fill your
cup the first thing in themorning, if you don't like, you
have to fill your cup becauseyou can't pour from an empty cup
.
I mean that's logic, right, butit's just like I had to do that
for myself, because if I didn't, there was no way I could give
everything else away the rest ofthe day.

Right.

And so I would literally get up in the morning.
I would you know, my gym in NewYork would send me the the
workout.
I would go do the workout andthen I'd come back home and help
care for him.
And so the day after he passedaway I went to the gym and I was
like, cause I'm that person inmy family, I'm the person that
handles all the shit, right.

Yeah.

So I was just like I know that feeling.
Yeah, I was like there's alwaysone that steps up and I was like
I need a break.
I need a break from you guys.
And so I'm going to be honest.
My brother and my mother arelike such like non-morning
people that I was like hell, I'mgoing to be back and like I'm

(31:38):
going to have three hours beforethey're even out of bed.
So I was.
I went and did my workout and Iwas coming back from the gym and
I heard a clanging andsomething just said in my head
Susan, look up.
And I looked up in the postoffice in my little tiny town,
986 people King city, missourihad put the flag at half mass
for my dad and I'm like ifthat's not a Testament to a life

(31:58):
well lived and how somebodyimpacted a community, I don't
know what it is, but it's justlike I think of that so much
because I think about like Iwant people to feel that way
about me when I'm no longer here.
So it's like what, what markcan I make and continue my
father's legacy so that somebodywants to do that for me when
I'm no longer here?
So it's like what mark can Imake and continue my father's
legacy so that somebody wants todo that for me when I'm no

(32:20):
longer here.

Well, I'll tell you what you are the epitome of
a daddy's girl.
I am.
There's no doubt about that.
So Pancakes for Raja, amentorship guide for slaying
dragons.
Slaying dragons, what's thatfrom?

I mean so the original title to the book was
pancakes or Roger.
Mentorship guide for life.
And then I woke up at like twoin the morning and I was like,
nah, it's a mentorship guide forslaying dragons.
I don't know where it came from.
I mean, I'm a big person.
You listen to things that comeinto your dreams because you
don't know where they come from,and and so it was funny because

(33:01):
my book team, when I was likeyeah, I think this is the title,
they were all like I don't know, I don't know.
I was like you don't know meyet I said once you know me,
you'll know that this is theright title.
And so I actually I floated thetitle out with a few of my
friends and so I have a closename, a friend named Kat Thomas.
She's actually an attorney inNew York city and she does.
She defends people that aresurvivors of sexual violence and

(33:26):
she's just a cool chick.
And so I told her the title andI just see her kind of like just
light up and just really kindof get into it.
And she's like, oh, and I saidwhat?
And she said when I graduatedhigh school, she said the
superintendent spoke in mygraduation and she grew up in
West Virginia and South Carolina.
And she said the superintendentwas like you know, I'm sure a

(33:48):
lot of you guys want to go outand slay some dragons, but maybe
you start with a lizard and youslay a lizard.
And she said I sat thereseething saying fuck those
lizards.
I was like when I said thetitle, she's like yes.
So it's just like.
So it's worked out and like adragon is just an obstacle,

(34:10):
right?
I mean, every single one of us,can.
You know it has to go frompoint A to point B and sometimes
it takes a little bit longerand it's a little bit more
difficult to get to B.
So it's just like.
So that's.
You know, that's the concept ofdragons is just a.
You know a challenge that youhave to.
You know that you come acrossin your life.

Let me see Be in love even at third sight.
Tell us about that and for thereason, the listeners, I just, I
have a little list of sayingsand I'm trying to you know which
one do I want to say?
So that's what that delay was.

Yeah, so we love, even at third sight.
I don't know.
Okay, so I'm, can you tell I'mnot a mushy love feeling person?
Yeah, I'm not.
It's my poor husband, no.
But so my husband and I met.
You know his name's Sean.
My first husband was namedScott, so I'm having a little
PTSD flashback.

I'm the good Scott .

I'm always the good Scott, I can tell already.
So my husband and I met at aManhattan Chamber of Commerce
networking event and you know, Imean, I didn't think anything
about it.
I was just like, hey, what's up, oh he's cute, whatever.
And then about a month later weran into each other again and

(35:25):
then I you know, I I don't eventalk about this in the book I'll
give you the inside story.
I was married when my husbandand I met and my first husband
he wasn't a bad guy, just not myguy, but he was unemployed.
First husband, he wasn't a badguy, just not my guy, but he was
unemployed.
And when I met Sean, you knowwe we got together and then we
did a networking breakfast justto learn about each other's

(35:47):
businesses.
We were both in business at thetime and and I like, after I
walked out of that breakfast, Iwas like I could get a guy like
this if I wanted to get a guylike this.
And I'm like what?
What's going on here?
And and so I put together ahappy hour Like this is so not
in the book.
I always tell people to have tobuy me coffee to get this story

(36:07):
.
So you're getting a, you'regetting an exclusive Scott.
My mom doesn't even know this.
So I put together a happy hourwith with some of my guy friends
, some of my girlfriends.
I told my girlfriends I waslike I want you to talk to him,
but don't talk to him Like he'sthe licked cookie.
I'm like I don't know what I'mgoing to do here.

(36:29):
I was like but I kind of have acrush on this guy, but I just,
you know, I was like I'm not acheater.
I was like I'm not a cheater.
I was like, but I said I don'tknow what I'm doing here and so
put together happy hour.
My girlfriends loved him fromthat happier.
I went to a rooftop bar at theShelbourne hotel in New York
city with two of my girlfriendsand I'm talking to them and

(36:49):
they're like Susan, he's great.
And I was like I know.
I was like I just I don't knowwhat to do.
And then one of the girls is aveterinarian and she's British
and her baby daddy called herand she's like oh Luke, I can't
talk now.
Susan's either going to have anaffair or leave her husband.
And I was like and that's whenI heard it I was like you're
right, I'm done, I'm done and soI literally took the train to

(37:13):
white Plains.
I was living in Westchester atthe time.
My then husband picked me upand on the train, the drive from
the train station home, I waslike I'm done, and he's like
what?
I was like I'm done, and soit's just.
I think I cringe all the timewhen I hear people.
I mean I'm going to piss somepeople off with this, but when I

(37:34):
hear people getting marriedunder the age of basically 26
anymore.

I mean, I was not good statistics go with.

Oh, I was 23.
I didn't know.
Yeah, I mean, it's just like,you like stuff, I like stuff.
You want to go hiking everySunday.
I want to go hiking everySunday.
It's like, seriously, therunaway bride, the chick, didn't
know how she liked her eggs.
Women changed tremendously fromthe ages of 23 to 26.
And I don't think, and I trulydidn't know myself, and you know

(38:03):
I, I also firmly believe if youare on your parents' payroll,
you have no business gettingmarried.
And I don't.
I mean, it's been crazy lately.
I've seen so many Facebookposts of like these engagements
19, 20 years old, and I'm like,or still in college living.

(38:24):
I was like, yep, I mean, it'sjust, you know, I wish them the
best and I hope it works out.
It's just like.
I mean it's, it's crazy.
I mean because I and so likethe, the love at third sight was
like it wasn't anything I wasever looking for.
Like I said, I'm not a cheaterand you, know, but it was

(38:46):
slightly scandalous.
Scandalous, Susan, yeah, youshould have known me back in the
day when I was single.
Yeah, but so that's the thing Imean.
It's just, and I always talkabout like people knowing their
worth and not only like you know, knowing like your ethics and

(39:07):
your, you know what you standfor, but also understanding what
you're worth in terms ofmonetary value.
Because I always talk aboutthat a lot when I speak publicly
is because a lot of times Ithink people they don't realize
what the value of their time is,and once you know that, it
makes saying yes and no tothings just like so much easier
too.

That's actually a thing in the nonprofit world.
A lot of nonprofits do notreally understand the value of
volunteers in the time andthere's actually a value that's
put on volunteer time fornonprofits.
Yep, and I think that kind ofgoes along with what you were
just saying.
Yep, they're very valuable tohave, absolutely.

(39:48):
Someone wants to volunteer andhelp your nonprofit.
I liked what you said earlierabout the.
You know you can give $2,000 toa, you know, to a big
foundation and okay, but a smallnonprofit and I'm a small
nonprofit and I know a lot ofsmall nonprofits the majority of

(40:08):
nonprofits are small yeah,that's the thing.
Yeah, the impact that it makeson that all.
Yeah, that's the thing.
Yeah, the impact that it makeson that.
And a lot of different peoplelisten to this podcast and and
you know I actually intervieweda donor and how he thinks and
how he gives his money and it'skind of in that, in that realm
of like he deals with smaller,yeah, non-profits and it's more

(40:32):
effective well, and I feel likeyou can.

You can actually physically see the impact yeah
and it's so, it's just like soas a donor because you know I'm,
I'm, I donate a lot to otherorganizations I mean not just my
own and right and you know it's, it's so rewarding, I think, as
a donor, when you see thatimpact and you see like so I
mean to be honest.
When you see that impact andyou see like so I mean to be

(40:58):
honest seeing that impact withvets helping vets, seeing that
that, you know, porch beingbuilt, seeing that, I mean that
made me a donor, because I knewthese guys were making a direct
impact, they weren't waiting onthings, they were like let's
just go.
You know, one of the thingsthat I'm kind of excited about
and that I'm doing out here toois one of the high schools out
here in New Hampshire, and thatI'm doing out here too is one of
the high schools out here inNew Hampshire.
They have a thing where it'sadopt a senior and so they allow

(41:18):
a student to be you know, quote, unquote adopted three times,
and so it's basically likesomebody will write like a
couple of paragraphs about thiskid, like where they're going to
school or what are their plansare after school, you know,
whatever they like Chick-fil-a.
And I was gonna say blockbusterand date myself.
So no more blockbuster for themillennial.

(41:40):
But you know what I'm saying.
Like you know, dave and busters, there we go um and so it's
just.
But I went on there becausesomebody invited me to it and I
scooped up the military kids.
So the kids that are going tothe marines, the kids that are
going to army.
I was just like you know what Iwas like pancakes for Roger can
support that.
I was like that's a cool thingfor us to be able to do, to say

(42:03):
like, oh, let's put you know, alittle college packet together
and like to talk to some of theguys that have gone to bootcamp
and be like what would you haveappreciated when you went to
bootcamp.
Like I had a friend's kid thatjust went and like he wanted to
Kindle so that he could read andstuff like that.
So I was like, oh, that's aneasy thing to do.
So you know, just some thingslike that.
We've been finding these kindsof cool opportunities.

(42:23):
There was somebody that reachedout to us in New Hampshire that
a guy was getting out of the VA, didn't have any family, and
and she was like, oh, he's goingto be getting out of the rehab
for a hip replacement and heneeds a ramp.
I'm like, yeah, the VA is notgoing to move and so I was like
but we can buy the constructionstuff If you can find a
contractor.
You know we've also gotten on alist for like the American

(42:46):
Legion out here and so they letus know when there's a veteran
funeral, because a lot of timessome of these guys that are, you
know, they don't have anyfamily around.
And I was like you know what?

that's something I got from my mom that doesn't
really, you know, okay, my dadwas a veteran and I'm not
knocking any of this.

Yes, I get it.

Yeah, there's people that they oh yeah, my
grandfather was a veteran, butthey don't really get it.
It's just something that wasalways in their life and so you
don't really.
And if the grandfather orfather doesn't talk that much
about it, then they don't havethat understanding of those
important things.

(43:26):
And that is when a veteranpasses away, there are
opportunities for that family toget the benefits from that
veterans, you know, and get theflag and get a burial and all
and things like that.
So yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean I'm a, I'm a big fan at Arlington.
I mean my, my grandfather andgrandmother are buried there on
my mom's side, and then my dadis, and it just I love that I
know exactly how to walk to mydad's grave.
I go at least once a yearbecause I always have to go to
DC for work, and so this pastyear I got to leave it.
You know we have pancakes orRoger challenge points.
Now I'll I'll have to put onein the mail for you, scott.

And I have one for you from the vets connection
podcast.
So we will exchange challengebecause I love that.
I love that.

And so so it's just like, sorry, I left a challenge
coin for him in December forChristmas.
So I'm like that's, you know.
So it's just like I mean,that's the thing, People.
Just there's a lot of good youcan do if you just look for it.
And I think sometimes peoplejust think like, oh, what's the
big splashy thing?
But I'm like, man, if you canjust do these, I mean like us
going to funerals, are we evergoing to get accolades for that?

(44:32):
No, but that's not what it'sabout.

What it's about Exactly?

It's about like you know, honoring somebody that
paid the ultimate sacrifice forthis country.
And that's the thing that getsme.
It's like you have a lot ofthese agent orange guys and it's
just like they gave their lifefor this country.
It just took them 30 years, youknow 40 years.
So he just kind ofunderstanding that process.

(44:55):
And with the clinic I mean themproviding the free legal
services.
And I will say because I knowyou have listeners that are
probably not in Missouri,there's kind of a misnomer you
don't have to be from Missouri,you don't have to live in the
state, you don't have to be analumni for the clinic to be able
to help you.
You just have to reach out andif they can help you they'll
help you.
But I will say most majoruniversities have veterans

(45:16):
clinics in every single stateand a lot of times people just
don't know that they're thereJust like you know, you and I
were talking before that it'slike there's so many different
veteran organizations peopledon't know where to turn to.
So I always tell people, hey, ifyou're having trouble with a VA
claim, you know, and you wantsomebody in your backyard, find
the closest major universityfirst.
So, like you know, southCarolina University of South

(45:37):
Carolina has an excellentveterans clinic, yale has a
great one.
Syracuse, university ofMissouri the University of
Missouri, syracuse and Yale areknown as, like, they're kind of
the best veterans clinicsbecause they they're the most
impactful.
I mean the University ofMissouri has brought in over $20
million of back pay andbenefits for veterans in the 11
years they've been in existence.
I mean it's remarkable the workthat they're doing.

(46:00):
So I always tell people, like,check out the universities, see
if they have a veterans legalclinic first.
That's around you.
If not, if you're havingtrouble with something, I mean
my email is Susan atpancakesrogerorg.
I'm always happy to field somequestions, you know, get some
information and I can connectyou to, you know, to the
University of Missouri VeteransClinic and they will always have
a conversation and if they canhelp you and take the case, they

(46:21):
will.
Or if they're like, hey, youneed to call this place and this
place.
They will tell you exactly whatto do and at least get you
pointed in the right direction.

One of my first, probably within the first 10
episodes that I recorded of thispodcast.
I interviewed the Legal AidSociety of Palm Beach County and
they have a specific sectionfor veterans and they are very
busy, but they also everyTuesday or Wednesday, they're at

(46:50):
the West Palm Beach VA, whichis a big VA, and they give up
their time.
So all respect to any type oflegal aid society that helps
veterans for free.
It's amazing.

You know, I interviewed.

I don't usually do businesses, but this was
recommended from somebody at theVA and they are a.
They're a law firm, but they doa lot of work, yeah, for
veterans.
They'll set up your you know,your, your, your will and all
everything they kind of.
And so I was like, all right,I'll bring you on, you know,

(47:27):
sure, if you're helping veterans.
But that's very important and alot of veterans don't know this
stuff existed.
I didn't know it existed.
This is like again, before westarted recording I said I
didn't know any of this existed.
It's amazing what is out there.
And I love the outside-the-boxthinkers of nonprofits, like

(47:48):
somebody just do somethingdifferent and I just see it.
Like in doing what I'm doing, Ithink I did 47 interviews last
year and like, okay, some wereveterans themselves, but
probably 30 of those are 30different non-profits.
Yeah, and this is a minuscule,yeah you know amount.

(48:10):
But and the pancakes?
Hey, listen, if you don't likepancakes I can't be friends with
you this is what's wrong withyou, you don't like pancakes,
that's like bacon.

You either love bacon or you're wrong, right
exactly so.

The website is pancakesforrajaorg and when you
go there now this is mylisteners know what's coming.
When you go there, you see thisbutton right and this button
it's right.
When you go to the site and itsays donate hey and I'm looking

(48:48):
at the website right now topright hand corner, brown white
lettering can't miss it.
If you like what pancakes forroger is doing and you want to
see more of what they do becausethey have impact stories,
youtube channel interviews youknow first person, you know
impact stories, go and check itout.
But the most important click onthat website is the one that

(49:12):
says donate.
So if, if you like what they'redoing, give them your money.
Give them money.

And I will say we are looking to add a couple more
board members.
So if you're like, hey, thisstory is tugging on my
heartstrings and I'd like to getinvolved, I mean, we would love
you know.
We're just asking for people tosend us, like you know, their
CVs, resumes, bios, whatever Areyou tempting me, I might be
sending something to you.
Yeah, but it's just like.

(49:41):
But I'm also like, I'm somebodythat is so realistic.
And so so, like when people arecontacting me, I'm like look,
I'm looking for 15 to 20 hours ayear from you.
I was like, maybe five emails aweek.
You know February's more, butit's more like you know, like
the, the impact stories and thefun stuff that we're sharing and
stuff like that, and I was like, and we have four virtual board

(50:01):
meetings a year.
I mean it's nothing crazy, butwe'll just you know we're
building things.
So I was telling you like wecause we just opened that up
April 1st and we've already gotin, I think, like five
submissions which is pretty cool.

Yeah, yeah, now that's a whole nother discussion
.

We're not going to have it on this podcast.
Donate the donate button.

The donate button is the most important click you
will make on that website,absolutely, and they are working
pretty much.
And that's another thing.
You have a very uniqueorganization that can or
foundation, that is statewide,it's across the country, it's

(50:43):
not singular to one location andagain.
So here comes my cheap plugthat's what the One man, one Mic
Foundation is.
I teach people all over thecountry.

Is there a donate button there too, Scott?

What's that?

Is there a donate button there too, scott, there's
a big red donate buttononemanonemikefoundationorg.

We're teaching veterans how to podcast because
at no point in the history ofthis country has a veteran had
more opportunity to be heardthan today.
And one of the top platforms ispodcasting and I think it's
very important that veterans getout there.
And it actually goes back towhat you were talking about
earlier.
Veterans PTSD can isolate.
They don't talk to anybody, butpodcasting opens the door for

(51:28):
them to be heard.
Once your upload goes out intothe podcast universe, you will
see one, two, three, four peoplemight have listened to you, but
three, four people might listento you, but that's four more
people than you had before.
Absolutely.
It's a beautiful thing andthat's it for my plug.
I do it once a night.
I figure I have a right to dothat.

Absolutely, you do it every month.

That's right, it's my podcast.

I'm very upset that people can't see your beautiful
, massive Ironman standingbehind you Life-size Ironman lit
up and everything, yep, yep,standing right behind me.

Did we miss anything?
We talked about the book.
We talked about the origins wetalked about.
Did we miss anything?
You have anything coming up?

So, I guess, in terms of coming up, we have we
call them our dragon slayercompetitions, the weightlifting
competition.
So, like I said, we have onecoming up June 14th in New York
city.
It'll be in Queens, um, atDutch kills fitness, and we're
going to have one in NewHampshire in July or August.
Like I said, be you know TBD onthe date on that Um, and then
we're going to be doing somevirtual things.
But also, too, if you havepeople that are listening and

(52:30):
they're like, hey, we do apancake breakfast once a month
at the Elks Club, I mean, we canjoin forces one month.
So I'd be happy to get a boardmember or myself.
I know people usually like mebecause I make everybody cry and
then they open up theirpocketbooks, but it's just like.
I'm all up for traveling,especially outside of February,
because February is like I'mhome like six days in February,

(52:52):
it's rough, but it's just like.
If somebody is just like I'mhome like six days in February,
it's rough, but it's just likeif.
If somebody's just like, hey,you know what we want to do, a
service project, even schools, Imean if, if I will tell you
like next year is going to be alittle bit different because I
found out the national FFA weekis in February forever and they
always have pancake breakfast.
So we're going to start, we'regoing to do a pilot with the

(53:13):
state of Missouri and send outletters to all the FFA chapters
in November and say like hey,when you're doing, because two
of them did it in Missouri justbecause they wanted to.

FFA for the people that don't know.

I'm sorry, Future Farmers of America.
There you go.
So I will tell you.
I was in Vegas last weekspeaking at a conference and I
spoke on public speaking andthey asked me they were like,
well, what was your first publicspeaking?
And I said, well, how manypeople know what FHA is?
And it's Future Homemakers ofAmerica and I was a regional

(53:48):
officer of Future Homemakers ofAmerica and people that know me
as, like New York City Susan,they're like what I was like,
yes, yes, I was so, but therewere two.
There was Stanbury, which isactually the high school my dad
graduated from, and then therewas another one down more in
Southern Missouri, salisbury,that they did Pancakes for Roger
breakfast with FFA week.

(54:08):
They printed out my dad's bio,you know they, you know, talked
about it.
They took a bunch of pictures.
So each school submitted likeover 40 pictures for the month
of February for that campaign.
So we're kind of excited aboutthat.
But, like I said, if you have,you know, even if, like, we have
people that have companies thatget together and they just do a
pancake breakfast at the at theoffice, and so, or if they do

(54:30):
like monthly potlucks at theiroffice, they're like, hey, let's
have breakfast for lunch oneday, and so they'll do pancakes
and so you know anybody thatwants to do like a pancakes or
Roger day.
Or if you have resources orconnections to like, say like a
local pancake restaurant, we'lldo all of the collateral for
them.
So we can do the social mediagraphics, we can do the flyers

(54:51):
that have like a little QR codeon it and you can just put them
on the tables.
They can read about the missionof pancakes or Roger, a little
bit about my dad and his service, and then, if it pulls on your
customer's heartstrings likethey can just snap a picture, do
the QR code and do a little bitof donation.

There's a donation right there.
Yeah, yeah, excellent.
I have a friend he's a veteran,he's also a student of my uh,
my one man, my one mikefoundation podcast who he's in
myersville, maryland, and liketwice a year like the lions club
, yeah, has these big pancakebreakfasts and he's all up in it

(55:26):
like he, he helps run it.
So I might send him your way orgive him the website and and uh
, see if we can do something,and he's a.
So I'm sure he'd be more thanglad to to help.

Yeah, well, and also too, it's like about being
creative, and so that's why Ilike, I'm just like, hey, you
know when people are like so Iwill tell you.
Like the lions club here in NewHampshire I think it's the 13th
of April is going to have theirpancake breakfast, and so I

(55:58):
mean, new Hampshire doesn't knowwho Susan Combs is yet, but
they will, I will tell you.
There you go, sway, notdragging.
So you know, we were talkingabout it and we were just like
you know, there's like doing,kind of those.
So some people have said like,okay, we're going to do a
Pancake for Roger event, likethe corporations, and then
they're taking pictures.
And since I'm like we only dothe picture campaign in February
because, like there's no way wecan track pictures every single
year, every single day, it'sjust like too much and so, but

(56:22):
these companies that are saying,okay, we're going to have our
own pancake breakfast, they said, okay, we know it's outside of
February, but then thecorporation is making donations
for every single picture, sooutside of February.
So they're like, okay, let's doone in May.
And then we took a hundredpictures.
We're going to say we'll give$5 each picture, and then
they're making a donation to us.
So like doing creative thingslike that are just a lot of fun

(56:43):
too.

Yeah, well, this was, this was a great interview.
They all are, but this one,because I love it.

This was the best, though, Scott right.

So far you're the best.
You're the best, susan, and,yes, new Hampshire will know who
Susan Combs is.
Absolutely Well.
Again, thank you, thank you.
Thank you for coming on thepodcast.
Stick around.
I'm just going to do my outrothat sometimes I get it right,
sometimes I don't.
You would think after a year ofdoing this I would get it, but

(57:12):
it's always kind of I don't.
You think after a year of doingthis I would get it, but it's
always kind of I don't know.
So stick around and we'll talkabout after the outro.
So well, we built another bridge.
This time it was a pancakebridge.
That's the best bridge ever.
Right there, pancakes for roger.
Go to the website pancakes forrogerorg.
See what they're all about.

(57:33):
Give them your money if youlike what they're doing, and I
think that's it.
I want to thank you guys forlistening.
I want to thank willow and palmconstruction, delray beaches,
premier builder.
From driveways to houses tobuildings, willow and palm
construction is your place to goand they are very good to

(57:53):
veterans in Delray and thesurrounding area.
I am a beneficiary of that.
So thank you, willow and PondConstruction.
And listen to the end.
I have the public serviceannouncement that I always
announce.
It's about 33 seconds, it'sabout 988 and 211.
And if you're a veteran or afamily member of a veteran or a
friend of a veteran or maybesomebody in need, just listen to

(58:16):
it.
It gives you good informationand then you'll know what to do
when you need it.
And, as I always say, you'llhear me again next Monday.

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Ep. 50 - Pancakes for Roger: A Veteran's Legacy

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Ep. 50 - Pancakes for Roger: A Veteran's Legacy