Sport Clips Haircuts held an event at VFW Post 8790 to offer free haircuts to veterans and present a check to the VFW Foundation for $1.5M toward veterans’ scholarships. This marks the sixth year in a row that Sport Clips has donated at least $1M to the Sport Clips VFW Help A Hero Scholarship program. Administered by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) to provide scholarships for service members and veterans, the program has grown to become the largest of its kind. Through the program, VFW awarded 196 scholarships totaling $900,000 for the current 2023 spring semester, bringing the total scholarships awarded to 2,600.

Veteran-founded Sport Clips began work with the VFW in 2013 to offer Help A Hero Scholarships to help military veterans prepare for civilian careers that often require additional college, graduate, and technical degrees and training. Since the creation of the program, Sport Clips has donated nearly $13 million to the “Help A Hero Scholarship” program.

"We owe our veterans and their families a debt of gratitude for their service. By helping ease the financial burden that often comes with reentering the civilian workforce, Sport Clips team members, clients, and product partners join us in saying 'thank you' to those who have served our country. Over the past ten years, the Help A Hero program has become a real difference-maker in the lives of so many veterans who have benefited from these scholarships and who are now successfully engaged in their civilian careers.”

—  Gordon Logan, Air Force veteran, VFW Life member, and founder and chairman of Sport Clips.

More than $143,000 of the donation total this year came from Sport Clips franchisees, with nearly half of that coming directly from haircut proceeds on Veterans Day, while Sport Clips clients donated the most generous portion of money raised in stores and online. Sport Clips partners Direct Beauty Express, John Paul Mitchell Systems, Nioxin, Sexy Hair, Gibs Grooming, Actiiv, and American Crew also made substantial contributions.

“The VFW is amazed at the generosity of Sport Clips clients, its team members and its partners,” added Dan West, VFW adjutant general. “It is their kindness and eagerness to support America’s veterans that makes this scholarship program possible. And it brings me great pride to announce that the spring 2023 semester will be our biggest awarded semester to date with $900,000 in scholarships being awarded to nearly 200 student veterans. We couldn’t have achieved this feat without Sport Clips and are excited to see the wide-reaching impact this has on the families of America’s best.”

The application period for fall 2023 Help A Hero Scholarships is open now through April 30 to receive up to $5,000 of assistance per semester, per family for service members and veterans in the rank of E-5 and below.