Sport Clips Haircuts donated $650,000 to the Veterans of Foreign Wars today to help active duty U.S. service members and veterans further their education and reach post-military career goals. Through client and product partner donations, as well as Veterans Day contributions of $1 per haircut service, the franchise’s annual “Help A Hero” campaign was its most successful since the program began in 2007. Funds raised will benefit the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship” program which is expected to provide more than 145 scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year.

Sport Clips’ Help A Hero campaign started in support of the VFW’s Operation Uplink™ “Free Call Days” program and has made nearly 2.5 million calls home possible for deployed and hospitalized U.S. service members. Last year, Sport Clips expanded its Help A Hero focus to offer scholarships of up to $5,000 each to active-duty military and veterans who wish to pursue college degrees and vocational certifications. To date, 137 Help A Hero Scholarships have supported military in returning to school.

“The benefits of these Help A Hero Scholarships are making a major difference in the lives of our nation’s heroes who are attending school and taking the next steps in advancing their futures. It’s really gratifying for me as a veteran, and for every Sport Clips team member, to know we’re a part of making college and civilian career training possible for these heroes,” says Sport Clips Founder and CEO Gordon Logan, a U.S. Air Force veteran and Lifetime Member of the VFW.  “Being a part of their journey when they return home is just one of the ways Sport Clips will continue to say ‘thank you’ to our military.”

“As veterans, we know how difficult transitioning back into civilian life can be because we’ve been there,” said John Stroud, VFW’s commander-in-chief. “Our returning service members and veterans deserve every chance to be successful. The generosity and support Sport Clips’ team members, partners and clients provide through the Help A Hero Scholarship program is life-changing. Together, VFW and Sport Clips are giving more military families the chance to move forward and better their lives than we could have ever imagined.”

As a part of this year’s fundraising efforts, Sport Clips partners such as, Nioxin, and others contributed a total of $105,000 to the Help A Hero Scholarship campaign.

Sport Clips is the Official Haircutter of the VFW, and its Help A Hero campaign is just one of the many ways it supports active-duty military and veterans. To find out more, visit your local Sport Clips or SportClips.com.