The VetsConnection Podcast
Join host Scott McLean, a veteran and also a passionate advocate for veterans' well-being. Each week Scott will bring you an episode that will feature insightful conversations with representatives from non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting veterans, as well as experts discussing programs within the Veterans Affairs (V.A.) aimed at assisting veterans with their needs. From discussing innovative therapies to highlighting community resources, this podcast sheds light on the myriad of ways veterans can find support and healing thru nonprofit organizations and also to connect nonprofits with each other in hopes of creating a network that will be beneficial to all.
The VetsConnection Podcast
Ep. 50 - Pancakes for Roger: A Veteran's Legacy
A plate of pancakes became the catalyst for a nationwide veterans support movement in this remarkable story of love, legacy, and service. After Susan Combs' father, Major General Roger Combs—who served 39 years across three military branches—developed Agent Orange-related cancer, one poignant morning changed everything. Unable to eat due to his feeding tube, he simply stated: "I want pancakes for breakfast." This heartbreaking moment eventually sparked what would become Pancakes for Roger, a nonprofit creating pathways to improve veterans' lives.
Susan shares the raw emotional journey from personal grief to purposeful action. What began as a social media tribute evolved into an annual February campaign where pancake photos trigger donations supporting veterans' causes, most notably the University of Missouri Veterans Legal Clinic providing free legal services for VA claims. Their latest campaign generated an impressive $13,000 and drew participation from all 50 states and six continents.
Beyond fundraising, Pancakes for Roger partners with smaller veteran organizations where modest financial support creates outsized impact. From construction projects for disabled veterans to mental health crisis support through QRF Up, these collaborations address immediate needs without bureaucratic delays. Susan's philosophy resonates throughout: "Small nonprofits can change lives with $2,000 that would barely register at a large foundation."
The organization's future looks promising with weightlifting competitions dubbed "Dragon Slayer" events, community outreach initiatives, and plans to establish an endowment for veteran micro-grants. Susan's book, "Pancakes for Roger: A Mentorship Guide for Slaying Dragons," furthers her father's legacy through wisdom and life lessons while generating additional support for veterans' causes.
Want to transform breakfast into meaningful change? Visit pancakesforroger.org to learn how you can host a pancake event, donate to their mission, or connect veterans with crucial resources. Together, we can ensure veterans receive the support, recognition, and community they've earned through their service.
Welcome to the podcast. I'm Scott McLean. My guest today is Susan Combs. Susan is the founder of Pancakes for Roger, an organization that creates pathways to improve the lives of veterans and their communities. How are you doing, Susan?
Susan Combs:I'm good. How are you?
Scott McLean:Doing well, doing well. Thank you for coming on the podcast. Thanks for having me Scott, yeah, my pleasure, thanks for having me Scott, yeah, my pleasure, so let's get right into it. So you founded Pancakes for Roger.
Susan Combs:Yeah.
Scott McLean:And I want to keep the audience kind of on the hook, because the name, as you know, always has the question. Oh yeah, right, so, but before we get to that, I want to know, or we want to know.
Susan Combs: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?
Scott McLean:hat, I'm wearing.
Susan Combs:So pancakes are. So I my my day-to-day career job is I actually work mostly as an expert witness on medical malpractice cases all across the country. So I travel around quite a bit. Somebody breaks somebody and I illustrate how you can use insurance as a model to get them exactly what they're asking for, type of thing. And I own an insurance brokerage, but then the nonprofit I founded the end of 2023. So December 2023, but it's Pancakes to Roger. The concept has been around since 2018. So I know we're going to kind of jump into that story where you're going to have me tell it and make everybody cry. That's listening.
Scott McLean:So you founded this, and now let's get into that. What is Pancakes for Roger and who's Roger? I'm sure everybody asks you who's Roger, who's Roger, right?
Susan Combs:And I'm one of them now.
Scott McLean:So yeah, tell us all about it.
Susan Combs:So Roger was my father. My father was a major general in the Air Force. He served in three branches of our armed forces for 39 years and four months. He started out as a Marine Corps helicopter pilot, then flew helicopters for the Army and then eventually transitioned over to the Air Force.
Scott McLean:He got smart and went to the Air Force. That's right. You know there's so many people I interview on this podcast, so many. They're all Marines and Army. I'm like, where's my Air Force people?
Susan Combs:Yeah, well, I got three. The only thing I don't have is Coast Guard. So it's kind of a funny thing. I mean my father so he was a Marines. But the reason he was a helicopter pilot is because I don't know if they still do it this way, but back then if you flew airplanes for the, for the Marines, you had to go through Navy flight school. Navy flight school meant that you had to swim. My dad grew up on a dairy farm in the Northwest corner, missouri. He was not a swimmer. So he said, well, I want to be a pilot. And they said, well, I want to be a pilot. And they said, well, you can fly helicopters and that means you go to army flight school and you don't have to know how to swim. So that's the whole reason why my father was helicopter versus airplane pilot in the Air Force. I mean we eventually he had a little Cessna and enjoyed kind of you know, tooling around with that.
Susan Combs:But so, as the story of Pancakes for Roger goes, my father was diagnosed with Agent Orange-related throat cancer in 2008. He actually retired from the military in 2007. So just a few short months later he was diagnosed. And you know, we had 10. Relatively we didn't realize they were good years at the time. But you know he had several surgeries and things like that. You know we dealt with the VA on putting in a claim and I remember, like my claim took, took three years and we thought that was horrible until I started, you know, becoming more aware of VA claims and their processes and things like that, and realize that the VA puts on their website seven years on average on the claims. And so in the civilian life my, my father was also a judge. So when it came to the claims he knew how to write things, he knew he was a general and he knew the right people and it still took him three years. So the people that are having to deal with this on a daily basis I can only imagine, without having the resources to assist. But the last year of my dad's life he relapsed twice and so I was living in New York City for basically the past 24 years and I returned home to a small town in Missouri.
Susan Combs: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 thought process was, were very much the same. So very methodical, very logical. So when it came to caring for him, I treated him how I'd want to be treated and so he gravitated 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 just cut through the bullshit type of thing. But he and I had like a system every single morning, I mean I'd get up around five o'clock, I'd check in on him. If he was good, then I'd go to the gym. I'd come back from the gym, check on him again. If he was good, then I'd go get cleaned up for the day and then I'd help him get kind of rallied around for the rest of the day and then I would literally take my laptop and sit in my childhood home at the coffee table and work all day. And you know we were very fortunate enough to have hospice at home.
Susan Combs:My dad was an early doctor of the long-term care program that the military offered right when it came out, and so you know he had his hospital bed and what we called his I love me room. So my mom used to say I don't even know why the hell we took time to pick out the color of the paint, because he plastered it full of pictures and accolades and shit like that that you couldn't even you'd see like two inches of the wall behind everything. So it didn't even matter. But so one particular morning did that whole song and dance and then when I came down get him around, he wasn't in his hospital bed and my parents' house the rooms go in a circle so I just kept going room to room until I landed ultimately in the kitchen and my dad had a placemat and he had set the table and he was just.
Susan Combs:He was ready for breakfast and my dad had a feeding tube the last year of his life and he also was on oxygen. And I looked at him and I said you know, dad, dad, what are you doing? And he said I want pancakes for breakfast. And it just broke my heart because this was a guy. For a year, I mean, he was military, right, you guys know how to accept things and be like this is my plight and this is what the parameters are and this is how I move forward. And so he knew he couldn't eat and that was okay. Sometimes he would say something smelled good, or my niece Josie was born basically when he relapsed, and so she was around for a year and so he would just hold the baby while we would eat.
Susan Combs:And I looked at him and I you know, if anybody's listening that have been caregivers know that if somebody's on oxygen, sometimes when their oxygen levels get low there can be some confusion, and so that's kind of what we were dealing with that morning. And I looked at him and I said dad, there's, there's nothing more than I'm wanting to give you them pancakes for breakfast. But so we're on hospice here, we have a DNR. I said if I give you pancakes and you choke, I said we're probably done here, and I don't think we're quite ready to be done. And he said oh, yes, I can.
Susan Combs:Matt said I could, and Matt's my brother and he's a nurse and he wasn't there that morning. So I knew we were dealing with some some confusion for sure. And so I looked at him and I said well, let me see what I can do. And you know, as every Midwest family has. We have those little Pyrex pitchers and stuff like that and my dad always wanted his tube feeding formula heated up for 14 seconds. He was always specific, as generals can be, cause he would totally call me out If I did 12, he's like yeah, it's not warm enough.
Susan Combs:But I so I, I, I heated up his tube feeding formula and I sat out on the table and he looked at me and he said what's that? And I said that's your syrup. And so his oxygen levels would kind of start rattling around and he kind of nodded and said okay, and a few weeks later my dad would ultimately pass away and so we had a funeral for him in Missouri and then ultimately my father was buried at Arlington and we had a full military honors at Arlington for him about a year later. And we've, you know, before I went back to New York, we planned the service, and then I went back to New York just for, you know, like four or five days. And I took one day off of work because you know, your listeners that have been a caregiver know that when that person passes you kind of lose your purpose and 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 a phone call or a text message, I could, but it was my choice and it 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 of space, because I had been in such, you know, fight or flight mode, I mean, for the past several months caring for him.
Susan Combs:And my husband said why don't we go to the diner and have some pancakes for your dad? And it was just such a good idea. And so we went to the Bel Air diner in Queens, new York. My husband took a picture of me. I told you know the story I just told you on social media and I said you know, all of our lives can change in the blink of an eye and there is something that every single one of us can be thankful for every single day. So, if you're so inclined, go have some pancakes for Roger and remember all the blessings you have in your life. So I mean, scott, it was just me talking. I mean it was just me sharing some of my heart, some of my sorrow. I just never expected what it would turn into. And so people started having pancakes for my dad and, sorry, they started sending me pictures and they said you know, I can't have pancakes and not think about all the service that your dad provided for our country and our community Because, like I said, my dad was also a civilian judge and he was in the military for, you know, over 39 years.
Susan Combs:And so you know, I I'm, you know I had a father. I had a great father, I will say and I know not everybody does, but it was like I was taught you always got to find the lesson and I was like where's the lesson? Like what? You know this, it can't be for nothing. And my dad's birthday was February 22nd. So we just had an idea and we were, like you know, my family's always been pretty philanthropic, and so a dear friend of mine, karen Huffman Grinch, reached out to me after my dad passed and you know my, my dad did well in life and you know my parents always lived so far below their means that my mom literally has nothing to worry about now. And so she reached out to me and she's, like I know your family's, philanthropic. So if you're thinking about a charity to donate to like you know how people say when somebody passes and instead of you know, in lieu of flowers, please donate to X.
Susan Combs:The University of Missouri has a veterans clinic, veterans legal clinic that provides free legal services for veterans and their families navigating the VA claims and appeals process, you know discharge upgrades and a lot more all free of charge to veterans, grades and a lot more all free of charge to veterans. And she said, you know, I wanted to remind you about the clinic because, considering your dad went to law school here and became a judge and then he had such a vast experience in his military service, it seemed very fitting and my family agreed. So you know, we had supported that, set a scholarship up in his name only for veterans that want to go to law school at the University of Missouri, and so what we decided to do is, every month of February, for every pancake loving picture we get on social media, we would make a donation to the Veterans Clinic in my dad's honor. So for the first six years of this campaign, it was all me kind of bootstrapping and I was donating my own money to it and everything like that.
Susan Combs:And then, in 2022, I came out with the book Pancakes for Roger A Mentorship Guide for Slaying Dragons. Because I was always taught that if you get a good piece of advice, it's your duty to share it with somebody else. And, like I said, I had a great father and so I got a lot of great, you know wisdom and nuggets from him. You know my entire upbringing. So the book is divided into four sections self-love, family and career and I mean it's it's written how I'm talking now. I mean you're not going to have to Google any word you know and just trying to figure things out, it's very plain spoken and so you know. So when I did the book, part of the proceeds in perpetuity go to the Veterans Clinic as well.
Susan Combs:But again then I was like there's got to be more than we can do, and I'm somebody that I'm a great person on making quick decisions. I have a good gut for it. My successes in business have always been when I've been open to something, but when it's something that involves other people, I'm very slow. I'm very methodical, I do my research. I that involves other people, I'm very slow, I'm very methodical. I do my research. I talk to other people that have done what I've done before, I've done it, to say, like, what would you have done differently?
Susan Combs:And so I took my time and I I set up Pancakes for Roger as an official non-profit in December 2023 and because, again, I was like we love the clinic, we are always going to support the veterans clinic, but again, again. There's gotta be more that we can do. So you know, we've we've been growing and evolving. I mean, ultimately we are building an endowment because probably this year is going to be the first year we're able to do it Um, which is pretty incredible when you think about it, because it's really the only the second year of the nonprofit um to provide grants to veterans and that want to do different projects. And it's just. You know, the thing that I've found with nonprofits is there are some massive, wonderful nonprofits out there, but you writing a check for $2,000 to a multi, multimillion dollar nonprofit, they're going to be like thanks, scott.
Scott McLean:Yeah.
Susan Combs:Have a good day, that'll. That's pocket change, you know. But smaller nonprofits you give them $2,000, they can change lives and in and so that's what I've. I've seen and so you know, while we're building the endowment, we've been partnering with smaller veteran nonprofits to help make a greater impact. I mean, there's this organization out in South Carolina called Vets Helping Vets and you know I went out there in February and we did a pancake breakfast and those guys are just you got to have them on your podcast because they're doing absolutely incredible work.
Scott McLean:I will, as a matter of after, after this recording, I want their information.
Susan Combs: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.
Susan Combs:I mean I, I was blown away Because I know with the VA and the military there's a lot of bureaucratic bullshit that you guys have to deal with, right? So what vets helping vets does is they meet on a weekly basis in South Carolina and in Spartanburg, greensburg, or Spartanville, greensburg, that area there's 33,000 vets in that County and so they, these guys, meet together. They have, you know, coffee and donuts and then, like when I was there, like I was in the kitchen making pancakes with these guys, we had Marines on the on the cook, you know cooktop, and it was just, it was so much fun. And and so I witnessed these guys and they, you know one guy stood up and said, hey, cause they were like old business. And the guy stood up that had come in with a cane and remembered carrying his plate of pancakes to the table, talking to him a little bit, and he said, guys, he said you changed my life with that ramp you built and that deck you built on my trailer. And I, you know, I saw on their Facebook pages they had pictures. And he said my dog and I are just loving sitting out on our porch, you know, just watching the day and everything. And you know, since he walked with a cane, it was hard for him to do the steps to get into his trailer. So these guys build them at ramp.
Susan Combs:It's like they didn't wait on the VA, they didn't deal with any of the bureaucratic bullshit. Seven guys showed up in an afternoon, build them a fricking deck. And then I'm sitting there and they're like any new business. And these guys are like Joe is just beside himself, his flagpole has been down for two years and he just really desperately misses it. One's guys like I got concrete. One guy's like I got a post hole digger. I shit you not.
Susan Combs:This was on a Thursday. I was there Thursday morning for breakfast. I looked at their Facebook page on Friday. 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 doing some support for them, because all they're focused on they're focused on construction and transport. So transport, like they'll give Uber rides to vets that need to go to doctor's appointments and have no way to get there, you know type of thing.
Susan Combs:So it's just like organizations like them, organizations like QRF Up it's another nonprofit that focuses on mental health for veterans and they're like a kind of a disaster. Well, I mean, what a QRF is, right, you know a quick response unit to show up when somebody's struggling with PTSD and they're at a very, very low point. And so they you know these guys. It's an app they download, they hit the button and within 30 seconds they get a call, a text and an email from somebody, cause a lot of times, especially with PTSD, as I, you know, I'm sure you can. You know test two or some of your listeners know sometimes you just need to talk to somebody, yeah, and they were like Susan, like 80% of our of the time we just need to have a conversation. Somebody just needs to know that you care. And so you know they're like a small grassroots. You know effort thing that I'm like. You know what that pulled on my heartstrings, you know, because the entire board lost somebody to suicide and so they were like we got to do better here. So you know, with the whole. You know pancakes for Roger thing.
Susan Combs:You know when we we started the nonprofit, I mean I, I have like big, lofty goals and aspirations. I mean I eventually want to start like a soldier shark tank. I think that'd be cool because, like I was thinking about it. I started my first company at 26 years old. If somebody said, susan, here's $5,000, that would have drastically changed everything. I could have set up my website, I could have done my incorporation papers, I could have gotten insurance, phone systems, whatever I needed to, you know, on on that money. And so I'm like, are we going to be an organization that gives a million dollars? Hey, knock on wood, but like, but again, it's just like one of those things that it's just like, you know, having those kind of like small micro grants, I think can make such a drastic impact on people.
Susan Combs:You know, there's I'm also working 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 I also think that New Hampshire has a massive it's, it's very veteran friendly, I mean, and also, too, for veterans benefits. When you think about it, I mean, new Hampshire doesn't have any state income tax, it doesn't have sales tax for the most part, and then if you're a disabled vet, you don't pay property tax. So it's just like if, if you know, you're thinking, and it's an outdoorsman's paradise. So it's just like, so it and you know, and if you drive around New Hampshire, every other town's a Purple Heart community Pisa.
Scott McLean: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.
Susan Combs:And I stumbled, my husband and I, when we were driving around looking at towns and stuff like that we someone I was like he's like what the hell is that? I'm like it looks like a base, you know, and it's just like is he didn't grow up military?
Susan Combs:And then I looked and I'm like holy. 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's very heartwarming. But it's just like you know, sometimes it's just people just need a little bit of help.
Susan Combs:And so our work with the veterans clinic has been very impactful. I mean so this past February, because we just finished that campaign we had set a goal of a thousand submissions. So when we started this I mean this was our seventh campaign when we started this we got, I think, about a hundred pictures. I think we got about a hundred submissions. But now we like get creative. We're just like, hey, if you have the book, if you have some swag, if you have a challenge coin, if you have this, like it'll count for multiple donations. 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 corporate sponsors that would match things for the, for the money for the picture campaign outside of Pancakes Roger to the clinic. And so we were able to make over our largest donation to the Veterans Clinic since we started doing the picture campaign and we donated over $13,000. And the year before was $10,000. So it was a big jump up from the year before.
Susan Combs:But we got all 50 states, washington DC, 25 additional countries and we got six continents. Antarctica hung out on me. I got them the past two years and I was so ticked I was like, come on, I usually just hit up the base there and somebody gets them for me. But the thing is, if you're in Antarctica you don't have a Costco to go to to get pancakes. So it's just like if you don't have it on the supply shipment you're kind of out of luck. So we did get Antarctica the past two years, but but it's just been cool. I mean we we gave out awards this year. We let the public vote on the awards after they're narrowed down and the award winners were actually on a billboard in time square. We gave an impact award this year to happen.
Scott McLean:How'd you get that? To happen, silly me. What was I thinking?
Susan Combs:Yeah, but it was something that, like my company, my sponsor and everything, but it was something that, like my company, my sponsors and everything, but we actually we gave this impact award this year to this woman named Angela kid and she's down in Mississippi and she actually she forged a relationship with a pancake chain, local pancake chain, called stacks, and they have locations in Mississippi, tennessee and Alabama and so this pancake chain set aside and they did pancakes for Roger day. So it's been this year has been so cool, with just so many great like just ideas. And so we have somebody that's up in Oregon that she is going to do a pancake breakfast up there for veterans on flag day is what she's planning on it. Because you know we're we're a year long nonprofit. Now we have to get our mindset out of February because February is what I was going to ask you about.
Scott McLean:That, yeah, yeah.
Susan Combs:Yeah, so it's just like. So, you know. I mean we're we're going to have a weightlifting competition in New York on June 14th. It's going to be flag day this year. There's going to be one in New Hampshire either in July or August. We're still working on the date. These are a couple of different locations that we're looking at.
Susan Combs:We're going to do some virtual challenges, 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. We've seen that like grassroots efforts for raising money has been great when we've just said like, okay, look, let's go, you know pancakes, or Roger will pick up the cost of breakfast. And then we have like flyers with like QR codes and stuff like that and say like, hey, if the story pulls on your heartstrings, you know, just throw us a couple bucks. And so you know, when we've done that, we've we've doubled our money. You know, because it's just it's, you know it's a feel good story and it's just like, especially the month of February, we're not asking people for money, we're just asking them to have pancakes. Talk about military service, talk about, you know, leave leaving a legacy and how you can make the world a little bit better of a place too.
Scott McLean:Everybody loves pancakes.
Susan Combs:Not everybody.
Scott McLean:I'd say the majority of the people like pancakes.
Susan Combs:There's the.
Scott McLean:French toast people. There's the waffle people.
Susan Combs:I know those people. Waffles are pancakes with abs. We accept that.
Scott McLean:There you go.
Susan Combs:Yeah so.
Scott McLean:I will tell you. I suppose you're a pancake expert at this point.
Susan Combs:Oh I yeah, but I'm the shittiest pancake maker in the world. I just I just told my husband yesterday. I said you know what I think I need to like do some YouTube videos, cause I mean I went to school for culinary. I mean it's kind of embarrassing that I'm a horrible pancake maker. So you know, but we, we get, because the thing is like overseas, a lot of places will have crepes but they won't have pancakes. So it's just like so. But then we're like I have a friend that she just she hates pancakes, eats pancakes. She has like a visceral reaction. I was like what about kimchi pancakes? What about scallion pancakes? She's like, oh my God, I love scallion pancakes. I was like there you go. I was like just be creative. And so you know, we've gotten people that you know I mean we always count waffles because that's easy. But it's just, you know, somebody's like what about French toast? They're like do you have a clever name for that? And I'm like no.
Susan Combs:I was like yeah bread and egg Well 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. But I will tell you, yeah, you don't have to fricking, eat them. Like. And also like. We've seen people that like we'll buy like a community pancake and they just literally pass it around.
Scott McLean:Take a picture and everybody at the table's holding the same pancake.
Susan Combs:Yeah, it's just like it doesn't matter and and so it's just. You know, it's kind of been fun and like the the awards. This year we actually we changed one of the awards the most smile worthy because we got so many kid and animal pictures this year it was insane. So the one that won the most smile worthy was actually a mule that was eating pancakes. We had a pot belly pig that was submitted. We had twins, we had like a bunch of cute kids, but man the mule. So my, my grandparents, their farm was called the mule shoe ranch, so that was pretty cool that I was like, oh, a mule one. I'm like I'm sure dad kind of had a hand in that, you know, from above saying, okay, I think we, we need to have more votes on it because like I don't vote and so it's just like. So people are like who's in the running? I was like I don't know, like it's just like I have to absolve myself from it.
Susan Combs:I have plausible deniability to any decisions that are made on who the winner is oh, but it looks a little rigged this year because my niece is one. You know, I was just, I was just like, I was just like, oh God, you know, I'm like I started looking at this and I was like, I was like, but I had nothing to do with it. I'm like it's voted by the public. I was like I didn't even decide, you know who the finalists were, so I'm like it's totally legit.
Scott McLean:So tell us about the book.
Susan Combs:The book. The book is fun, I will tell you. Like you know, I've had people it's actually kind of cool. So one of my friends, um Aaron Eckerberg he's a retired Lieutenant Colonel from the Marines another Marine and he was. He was actually the Marine Corps representative at my dad's funeral in Missouri. So Aaron and I didn't meet until my dad's funeral and he was purple Fox too and he and I would just been become really cool friends.
Susan Combs:He would be a good guy for you to have on because he actually has a TBI clinic, that's that um is free for first responders and military personnel because they get funding from the States they're in, you know. But he's a guy that he was like Susan. There's so many military lessons in here and I didn't know because, again, it's just how I grew up. So what he does is he. Every single time he knows a military 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 a strong son, and I mean that's like such a huge compliment. I had a friend that grew up in New York city foster care system and she was like Susan. I got the book because she said I didn't get good dad advice growing up and she said I wanted to know what it would be like to have a good dad.
Susan Combs:And you know, and I recognize that in the beginning of the book, I'm like look, not everybody has great parents. I get that, and so it's just like, but it's, you know, like my uncle Joe told my mom after, I think, my brother was born. He's like Gloria, people are going to give you a lot of advice, take what you want and throw out the rest. I'm like not everything's going to resonate with you because not everything. You know you're in different parts of your life, but you know it's it's written in vignette style, so it means it's kind of just like quick hits.
Susan Combs:So I think the longest chapter is like 10 pages but the shortest one is like one or two paragraphs. So it's, you know, it's just fun. Different lessons I mean, like you know my dad was big on, you know, talking about like the three facets of life, so that's a lesson that's in the book that he's like you know, when you and I know a lot of millennials and Gen Z, you'll be like oh and. And you know wellbeing, and I'm like fuck that. You know, it's just like.
Scott McLean:I'm with you on that one.
Susan Combs:So it's just like. He's like, yes, your life consists of so much more. Right, let's get the caveat. But he's. He was like when you think about your life, it really boils down to three things. He's like you have the place that you live, the person that you're with and the thing you do for a living. He's like if you're happy with three out of the three, you're living a golden life. He was like even if you're happy with two out of the three, you're really not doing bad. But if you're happy with one or none of those, you got to get off your ass and do something like so it's.
Susan Combs:That's one of the things that I've always thought about. Like it's just like if something 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 extra stressful? Did I have a fight with my husband? You know, like what's what's going on? Like what needs to be kind of recalibrated. But then there's things just like. You know, drive the car was another lesson I mean. So if you, I mean I know you're from the Boston area.
Susan Combs:So you probably not as much, unless you were like tilting cars and joy riding around, did it, did it? So if you grew up in a farming community, you're driving at a young age and so you know all of us were driving on the farm like I mean hell. I think my dad was driving at like seven or eight. I think I drove for the first time like at nine or 10, you know, and it's like you're driving 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 going to break the law.
Susan Combs:You know, then when it came to highway driving when we were teenagers, my dad would always have a cadence and he would say drive the car, drive the car, drive car, drive the car, drive the car. So we had that in our heads and he's just like he said look, he said it's not. You know, you can be the safest driver in the world, but you have to be aware of your surroundings and what's going to pop up and you have to keep your calm and composure when something goes awry. So I mean my dad would literally jerk the steering wheel and have us come off the road and he'd just say drive the car, drive the car. So my brother and I, to this day when we've like gotten into skin on ice or something like that, we're like drive the car, drive the car.
Susan Combs:And especially in the farming community, I mean, and like I also grew up around Amish, you can literally, you know, pop over a hill and there'd be a freaking horse and buggy and you're like holy shit, like, and they're. Basically you have to act like they're stopped because they're going so slow, but it's just, and you know, but the drive, the car is kind of like a metaphor for just like putting first things first and like breaking things down to, like you know, just bite-sized nuggets so you can understand, you can move forward. Like, for example, like when I was my dad's caregiver, there was a time that you know we had had, I mean, anybody that's had anybody in hospice that's been a caregiver, I mean anybody that's had anybody in hospice that's been a caregiver. I mean it's like a freaking pharmaceutical, like insane, so many things there, and so we had had all of his meds out and then one morning he took his nighttime meds in the morning and so then he just was so groggy and he just couldn't wake up. And he couldn't wake up. And it was like when I was flying back to New York and every single time I went back home I had to be like this could be the last time I see him.
Susan Combs:So when he did that and he took the meds, I was like what's the drive the car? And I was like, guys, we're putting away all the meds, we're putting away all the meds, leaving out only on the counter what is safe for him to take at night if he wakes up and he's in pain and so then we don't have to worry about like him taking too much and things like that. So it was just like stopping yourself, looking at the situation, saying, okay, what's the best thing, what's the step-by-step thing to get you from A to B and make it work that way. So you know the book.
Susan Combs:The book is a lot of fun, but I will tell you that my dad the day after he passed away, I, my dad the day after he passed away, I mean I'm, I'm a gym rat. I mean I think if, if you're a caregiver, you have to fill your cup the first thing in the morning, if you don't like, you have to fill your cup because you can't pour from an empty cup. I mean that's logic, right, but it'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 of the day.
Scott McLean:Right.
Susan Combs:And so I would literally get up in the morning. I would you know, my gym in New York would send me the the workout. I would go do the workout and then I'd come back home and help care for him. And so the day after he passed away I went to the gym and I was like, cause I'm that person in my family, I'm the person that handles all the shit, right.
Scott McLean:Yeah.
Susan Combs:So I was just like I know that feeling.
Susan Combs:Yeah, I was like there's always one 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 are like such like non-morning people that I was like hell, I'm going to be back and like I'm going to have three hours before they're even out of bed. So I was.
Susan Combs:I went and did my workout and I was coming back from the gym and I heard a clanging and something just said in my head Susan, look up. And I looked up in the post office in my little tiny town, 986 people King city, missouri had put the flag at half mass for my dad and I'm like if that's not a Testament to a life well lived and how somebody impacted a community, I don't know what it is, but it's just like I think of that so much because I think about like I want people to feel that way about me when I'm no longer here. So it's like what, what mark can I make and continue my father's legacy so that somebody wants to do that for me when I'm no longer here? So it's like what mark can I make and continue my father's legacy so that somebody wants to do that for me when I'm no longer here.
Scott McLean: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, a mentorship guide for slaying dragons. Slaying dragons, what's that from?
Susan Combs:I mean so the original title to the book was pancakes or Roger. Mentorship guide for life. And then I woke up at like two in the morning and I was like, nah, it's a mentorship guide for slaying dragons. I don't know where it came from. I mean, I'm a big person.
Susan Combs:You listen to things that come into your dreams because you don't know where they come from, and and so it was funny because my book team, when I was like yeah, 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 me yet I said once you know me, you'll know that this is the right title. And so I actually I floated the title out with a few of my friends and so I have a close name, a friend named Kat Thomas. She's actually an attorney in New York city and she does. She defends people that are survivors of sexual violence and she's just a cool chick.
Susan Combs:And so I told her the title and I just see her kind of like just light up and just really kind of get into it. And she's like, oh, and I said what? And she said when I graduated high school, she said the superintendent spoke in my graduation and she grew up in West Virginia and South Carolina. And she said the superintendent was like you know, I'm sure a lot of you guys want to go out and slay some dragons, but maybe you start with a lizard and you slay a lizard. And she said I sat there seething saying fuck those lizards. I was like when I said the title, she's like yes.
Susan Combs:So it's just like. So it's worked out and like a dragon is just an obstacle, right? I mean, every single one of us, can. You know it has to go from point A to point B and sometimes it takes a little bit longer and 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 of dragons is just a. You know a challenge that you have to. You know that you come across in your life.
Scott McLean:Let me see Be in love even at third sight. Tell us about that and for the reason, the listeners, I just, I have a little list of sayings and I'm trying to you know which one do I want to say? So that's what that delay was.
Susan Combs:Yeah, so we love, even at third sight. I don't know. Okay, so I'm, can you tell I'm not 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 named Scott, so I'm having a little PTSD flashback.
Scott McLean:I'm the good Scott.
Susan Combs:I'm always the good Scott, I can tell already. So my husband and I met at a Manhattan Chamber of Commerce networking event and you know, I mean, 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 we ran into each other again and then I you know, I I don't even talk about this in the book I'll give you the inside story. I was married when my husband and I met and my first husband he wasn't a bad guy, just not my guy, but he was unemployed. First husband, he wasn't a bad guy, just not my guy, but he was unemployed. And when I met Sean, you know we we got together and then we did a networking breakfast just to learn about each other's businesses. We were both in business at the time and and I like, after I walked out of that breakfast, I was like I could get a guy like this if I wanted to get a guy like this. And I'm like what? What's going on here? And and so I put together a happy hour Like this is so not in the book. I always tell people to have to buy me coffee to get this story. So you're getting a, you're getting an exclusive Scott. My mom doesn't even know this. So I put together a happy hour with with some of my guy friends, some of my girlfriends. I told my girlfriends I was like I want you to talk to him, but don't talk to him Like he's the licked cookie. I'm like I don't know what I'm going to do here. I was like but I kind of have a crush on this guy, but I just, you know, I was like I'm not a cheater. I was like I'm not a cheater. I was like, but I said I don't know what I'm doing here and so put together happy hour. My girlfriends loved him from that happier.
Susan Combs:I went to a rooftop bar at the Shelbourne hotel in New York city with two of my girlfriends and I'm talking to them and they're like Susan, he's great. And I was like I know. I was like I just I don't know what to do. And then one of the girls is a veterinarian and she's British and her baby daddy called her and she's like oh Luke, I can't talk now. Susan's either going to have an affair or leave her husband. And I was like and that's when I heard it I was like you're right, I'm done, I'm done and so I literally took the train to white Plains. I was living in Westchester at the time. My then husband picked me up and on the train, the drive from the train station home, I was like I'm done, and he's like what? I was like I'm done, and so it's just. I think I cringe all the time when I hear people. I mean I'm going to piss some people off with this, but when I hear people getting married under the age of basically 26 anymore.
Scott McLean:I mean, I was not good statistics go with.
Susan Combs: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 every Sunday. I want to go hiking every Sunday. It's like, seriously, the runaway bride, the chick, didn't know how she liked her eggs. Women changed tremendously from the ages of 23 to 26. And I don't think, and I truly didn't know myself, and you know I, I also firmly believe if you are on your parents' payroll, you have no business getting married. And I don't. I mean, it's been crazy lately. I've seen so many Facebook posts of like these engagements 19, 20 years old, and I'm like, or still in college living. I was like, yep, I mean, it's just, 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 like the, the love at third sight was like it wasn't anything I was ever looking for. Like I said, I'm not a cheater and you, know, but it was slightly scandalous.
Susan Combs:Scandalous, Susan, yeah, you should have known me back in the day when I was single. Yeah, but so that's the thing I mean. It's just, and I always talk about like people knowing their worth and not only like you know, knowing like your ethics and your, you know what you stand for, but also understanding what you're worth in terms of monetary value. Because I always talk about that a lot when I speak publicly is because a lot of times I think people they don't realize what the value of their time is, and once you know that, it makes saying yes and no to things just like so much easier too.
Scott McLean:That's actually a thing in the nonprofit world. A lot of nonprofits do not really understand the value of volunteers in the time and there's actually a value that's put on volunteer time for nonprofits. Yep, and I think that kind of goes along with what you were just saying. Yep, they're very valuable to have, absolutely.
Scott McLean:Someone wants to volunteer and help your nonprofit. I liked what you said earlier about the. You know you can give $2,000 to a, you know, to a big foundation and okay, but a small nonprofit and I'm a small nonprofit and I know a lot of small nonprofits the majority of nonprofits are small yeah, that's the thing. Yeah, the impact that it makes on that all. Yeah, that's the thing. Yeah, the impact that it makes on that. And a lot of different people listen to this podcast and and you know I actually interviewed a donor and how he thinks and how he gives his money and it's kind of in that, in that realm of like he deals with smaller, yeah, non-profits and it's more effective well, and I feel like you can.
Susan Combs:You can actually physically see the impact yeah and it's so, it's just like so as a donor because you know I'm, I'm, I donate a lot to other organizations 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 that impact and you see like so I mean to be honest. When you see that impact and you see like so I mean to be honest seeing that impact with vets helping vets, seeing that that, you know, porch being built, seeing that, I mean that made me a donor, because I knew these guys were making a direct impact, they weren't waiting on things, they were like let's just go. You know, one of the things that I'm kind of excited about and that I'm doing out here too is one of the high schools out here in New Hampshire, and that I'm doing out here too is one of the high schools out here in New Hampshire. They have a thing where it's adopt a senior and so they allow a student to be you know, quote, unquote adopted three times, and so it's basically like somebody will write like a couple of paragraphs about this kid, like where they're going to school or what are their plans are after school, you know, whatever they like Chick-fil-a.
Susan Combs:And I was gonna say blockbuster and date myself. So no more blockbuster for the millennial. But you know what I'm saying. Like you know, dave and busters, there we go um and so it's just.
Susan Combs:But I went on there because somebody invited me to it and I scooped up the military kids. So the kids that are going to the marines, the kids that are going to army.
Susan Combs:I was just like you know what I was like pancakes for Roger can support that. I was like that's a cool thing for us to be able to do, to say like, oh, let's put you know, a little college packet together and like to talk to some of the guys that have gone to bootcamp and be like what would you have appreciated when you went to bootcamp. Like I had a friend's kid that just went and like he wanted to Kindle so that he could read and stuff like that. So I was like, oh, that's an easy thing to do. So you know, just some things like that. We've been finding these kinds of cool opportunities. There was somebody that reached out 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 going to be getting out of the rehab for a hip replacement and he needs a ramp. I'm like, yeah, the VA is not going to move and so I was like but we can buy the construction stuff If you can find a contractor.
Susan Combs:You know we've also gotten on a list for like the American Legion out here and so they let us know when there's a veteran funeral, because a lot of times some of these guys that are, you know, they don't have any family around. And I was like you know what?
Scott McLean:that's something I got from my mom that doesn't really, you know, okay, my dad was a veteran and I'm not knocking any of this.
Susan Combs:Yes, I get it.
Scott McLean:Yeah, there's people that they oh yeah, my grandfather was a veteran, but they don't really get it. It's just something that was always in their life and so you don't really. And if the grandfather or father doesn't talk that much about it, then they don't have that understanding of those important things. And that is when a veteran passes away, there are opportunities for that family to get the benefits from that veterans, you know, and get the flag and get a burial and all and things like that. So yeah, yeah, yeah.
Susan Combs:I mean I'm a, I'm a big fan at Arlington. I mean my, my grandfather and grandmother are buried there on my mom's side, and then my dad is, and it just I love that I know exactly how to walk to my dad's grave. I go at least once a year because I always have to go to DC for work, and so this past year I got to leave it. You know we have pancakes or Roger challenge points. Now I'll I'll have to put one in the mail for you, scott.
Scott McLean:And I have one for you from the vets connection podcast. So we will exchange challenge because I love that. I love that.
Susan Combs:And so so it's just like, sorry, I left a challenge coin for him in December for Christmas. 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 you can do if you just look for it. And I think sometimes people just think like, oh, what's the big splashy thing? But I'm like, man, if you can just do these, I mean like us going to funerals, are we ever going to get accolades for that? No, but that's not what it's about.
Scott McLean:What it's about Exactly?
Susan Combs:It's about like you know, honoring somebody that paid the ultimate sacrifice for this country. And that's the thing that gets me. It's like you have a lot of these agent orange guys and it's just like they gave their life for this country. It just took them 30 years, you know 40 years. So he just kind of understanding that process. And with the clinic I mean them providing the free legal services. And I will say because I know you 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 an alumni for the clinic to be able to help you. You just have to reach out and if they can help you they'll help you. But I will say most major universities have veterans clinics in every single state and a lot of times people just don't know that they're there Just like you know, you and I were talking before that it's like there's so many different veteran organizations people don't know where to turn to.
Susan Combs:So I always tell people, hey, if you're having trouble with a VA claim, you know, and you want somebody in your backyard, find the closest major university first. So, like you know, south Carolina University of South Carolina has an excellent veterans clinic, yale has a great one. Syracuse, university of Missouri the University of Missouri, syracuse and Yale are known as, like, they're kind of the best veterans clinics because they they're the most impactful. I mean the University of Missouri has brought in over $20 million of back pay and benefits for veterans in the 11 years they've been in existence. I mean it's remarkable the work that they're doing.
Susan Combs:So I always tell people, like, check out the universities, see if they have a veterans legal clinic first. That's around you. If not, if you're having trouble with something, I mean my email is Susan at pancakesrogerorg. I'm always happy to field some questions, you know, get some information and I can connect you to, you know, to the University of Missouri Veterans Clinic and they will always have a conversation and if they can help you and take the case, they will. Or if they're like, hey, you need to call this place and this place. They will tell you exactly what to do and at least get you pointed in the right direction.
Scott McLean:One of my first, probably within the first 10 episodes that I recorded of this podcast. I interviewed the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County and they have a specific section for veterans and they are very busy, but they also every Tuesday or Wednesday, they're at the West Palm Beach VA, which is a big VA, and they give up their time. So all respect to any type of legal aid society that helps veterans for free. It's amazing.
Susan Combs:You know, I interviewed.
Scott McLean:I don't usually do businesses, but this was recommended from somebody at the VA and they are a. They're a law firm, but they do a lot of work, yeah, for veterans.
Scott McLean: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, sure, if you're helping veterans. But that's very important and a lot of veterans don't know this stuff existed. I didn't know it existed. This is like again, before we started recording I said I didn't know any of this existed. It's amazing what is out there.
Scott McLean:And I love the outside-the-box thinkers of nonprofits, like somebody just do something different and I just see it. Like in doing what I'm doing, I think I did 47 interviews last year and like, okay, some were veterans themselves, but probably 30 of those are 30 different non-profits. Yeah, and this is a minuscule, yeah you know amount. But and the pancakes? Hey, listen, if you don't like pancakes I can't be friends with you this is what's wrong with you, you don't like pancakes, that's like bacon.
Susan Combs:You either love bacon or you're wrong, right exactly so.
Scott McLean:The website is pancakesforrajaorg and when you go there now this is my listeners know what's coming. When you go there, you see this button right and this button it's right.
Scott McLean:When you go to the site and it says donate hey and I'm looking at the website right now top right hand corner, brown white lettering can't miss it. If you like what pancakes for roger is doing and you want to see more of what they do because they have impact stories, youtube channel interviews you know first person, you know impact stories, go and check it out. But the most important click on that website is the one that says donate. So if, if you like what they're doing, give them your money. Give them money.
Susan Combs:And I will say we are looking to add a couple more board members. So if you're like, hey, this story is tugging on my heartstrings and I'd like to get involved, I mean, we would love you know. We're just asking for people to send us, like you know, their CVs, resumes, bios, whatever Are you tempting me, I might be sending something to you. Yeah, but it's just like. But I'm also like, I'm somebody that is so realistic.
Susan Combs:And so so, like when people are contacting me, I'm like look, I'm looking for 15 to 20 hours a year from you. I was like, maybe five emails a week. You know February's more, but it's more like you know, like the, the impact stories and the fun stuff that we're sharing and stuff like that, and I was like, and we have four virtual board meetings a year.
Susan Combs:I mean it's nothing crazy, but we'll just you know we're building things. So I was telling you like we cause we just opened that up April 1st and we've already got in, I think, like five submissions which is pretty cool.
Scott McLean:Yeah, yeah, now that's a whole nother discussion.
Susan Combs:We're not going to have it on this podcast. Donate the donate button.
Scott McLean: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 unique organization that can or foundation, that is statewide, it's across the country, it's not singular to one location and again. So here comes my cheap plug that's what the One man, one Mic Foundation is. I teach people all over the country.
Susan Combs:Is there a donate button there too, Scott?
Scott McLean:What's that?
Susan Combs:Is there a donate button there too, scott, there's a big red donate button onemanonemikefoundationorg.
Scott McLean:We're teaching veterans how to podcast because at no point in the history of this country has a veteran had more opportunity to be heard than today. And one of the top platforms is podcasting and I think it's very important that veterans get out there. And it actually goes back to what you were talking about earlier. Veterans PTSD can isolate. They don't talk to anybody, but podcasting opens the door for them to be heard. Once your upload goes out into the podcast universe, you will see one, two, three, four people might have listened to you, but three, four people might listen to you, but that's four more people than you had before.
Scott McLean:Absolutely. It's a beautiful thing and that's it for my plug. I do it once a night. I figure I have a right to do that.
Susan Combs:Absolutely, you do it every month.
Scott McLean:That's right, it's my podcast.
Susan Combs:I'm very upset that people can't see your beautiful, massive Ironman standing behind you Life-size Ironman lit up and everything, yep, yep, standing right behind me.
Scott McLean:Did we miss anything? We talked about the book. We talked about the origins we talked about. Did we miss anything? You have anything coming up?
Susan Combs:So, I guess, in terms of coming up, we have we call them our dragon slayer competitions, the weightlifting competition. So, like I said, we have one coming up June 14th in New York city. It'll be in Queens, um, at Dutch kills fitness, and we're going to have one in New Hampshire in July or August. Like I said, be you know TBD on the date on that Um, and then we're going to be doing some virtual things. But also, too, if you have people that are listening and they're like, hey, we do a pancake breakfast once a month at the Elks Club, I mean, we can join forces one month. So I'd be happy to get a board member or myself.
Susan Combs:I know people usually like me because I make everybody cry and then they open up their pocketbooks, but it's just like. I'm all up for traveling, especially outside of February, because February is like I'm home like six days in February, it's rough, but it's just like. If somebody is just like I'm home like six days in February, it's rough, but it's just like if. If somebody's just like, hey, you know what we want to do, a service project, even schools, I mean if, if I will tell you like next year is going to be a little bit different because I found out the national FFA week is in February forever and they always have pancake breakfast. So we're going to start, we're going to do a pilot with the state of Missouri and send out letters to all the FFA chapters in November and say like hey, when you're doing, because two of them did it in Missouri just because they wanted to.
Scott McLean:FFA for the people that don't know.
Susan Combs:I'm sorry, Future Farmers of America.
Susan Combs:There you go. So I will tell you. I was in Vegas last week speaking at a conference and I spoke on public speaking and they asked me they were like, well, what was your first public speaking? And I said, well, how many people know what FHA is? And it's Future Homemakers of America and I was a regional officer of Future Homemakers of America and people that know me as, like New York City Susan, they're like what I was like, yes, yes, I was so, but there were two. There was Stanbury, which is actually the high school my dad graduated from, and then there was another one down more in Southern Missouri, salisbury, that they did Pancakes for Roger breakfast with FFA week. 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 like over 40 pictures for the month of February for that campaign. So we're kind of excited about that.
Susan Combs:But, like I said, if you have, you know, even if, like, we have people that have companies that get together and they just do a pancake breakfast at the at the office, and so, or if they do like monthly potlucks at their office, they're like, hey, let's have breakfast for lunch one day, and so they'll do pancakes and so you know anybody that wants to do like a pancakes or Roger day. Or if you have resources or connections to like, say like a local pancake restaurant, we'll do all of the collateral for them. So we can do the social media graphics, we can do the flyers that have like a little QR code on it and you can just put them on the tables. They can read about the mission of pancakes or Roger, a little bit about my dad and his service, and then, if it pulls on your customer's heartstrings like they can just snap a picture, do the QR code and do a little bit of donation.
Scott McLean: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 mike foundation podcast who he's in myersville, maryland, and like twice a year like the lions club, yeah, has these big pancake breakfasts and he's all up in it like he, he helps run it. So I might send him your way or give him the website and and uh, see if we can do something, and he's a. So I'm sure he'd be more than glad to to help.
Susan Combs:Yeah, well, and also too, it's like about being creative, and so that's why I like, I'm just like, hey, you know when people are like so I will tell you. Like the lions club here in New Hampshire I think it's the 13th of April is going to have their pancake breakfast, and so I mean, new Hampshire doesn't know who Susan Combs is yet, but they will, I will tell you. There you go, sway, not dragging. So you know, we were talking about it and we were just like you know, there's like doing, kind of those.
Susan Combs:So some people have said like, okay, we're going to do a Pancake for Roger event, like the corporations, and then they're taking pictures. And since I'm like we only do the picture campaign in February because, like there's no way we can track pictures every single year, every single day, it's just like too much and so, but 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 the corporation is making donations for every single picture, so outside of February. So they're like, okay, let's do one in May. And then we took a hundred pictures. We're going to say we'll give $5 each picture, and then they're making a donation to us. So like doing creative things like that are just a lot of fun too.
Scott McLean:Yeah, well, this was, this was a great interview. They all are, but this one, because I love it.
Susan Combs:This was the best, though, Scott right.
Scott McLean: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 the podcast. Stick around. I'm just going to do my outro that sometimes I get it right, sometimes I don't. You would think after a year of doing this I would get it, but it's always kind of I don't. You think after a year of doing this I would get it, but it's always kind of I don't know. So stick around and we'll talk about after the outro.
Scott McLean:So well, we built another bridge. This time it was a pancake bridge. That's the best bridge ever. Right there, pancakes for roger. Go to the website pancakes for rogerorg. See what they're all about. Give them your money if you like what they're doing, and I think that's it. I want to thank you guys for listening. I want to thank willow and palm construction, delray beaches, premier builder. From driveways to houses to buildings, willow and palm construction is your place to go and they are very good to veterans in Delray and the surrounding area. I am a beneficiary of that. So thank you, willow and Pond Construction. And listen to the end. I have the public service announcement that I always announce. It's about 33 seconds, it's about 988 and 211. And if you're a veteran or a family member of a veteran or a friend of a veteran or maybe somebody in need, just listen to it. It gives you good information and then you'll know what to do when you need it. And, as I always say, you'll hear me again next Monday.
