Commack Chows Down on National Pancake Day [VIDEO]

IHOP in Commack was filled Tuesday as residents came out in droves to get their flapjack fix on National Pancake Day.

To celebrate, IHOP restaurants nationwide give away free pancakes in exchange for donations to the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals.

The Commack location will be giving its donations to the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center in Queens, a place that hits home for owners Andy Barbaccia and Ellen McEnaney, a brother and sister team.

McEnaney's son, who is now 25, was once a patient at the children's hospital. A young customer, Shanon of Northport, is also a patient of the hospital. She has been treated since infancy for craniosynstosis , a birth condition in which her skull was prematurely fused together.

As the kitchen turned out plate after plate of stacked pancakes, customers lined up for the free grub and chance to help a child in need.

"I made it my goal this year to come," Caitlyn Hever, a senior at Commack High School said while enjoying a stack of buttermilk pancakes with friends. "I didn't have my license last year so I made sure to come this year."

The Commack IHOP raised more than $3,000 last year for the cause and is looking to beat that target Tuesday.

Barbaccia, who has worked with his sister at the restaurant for 34 years, said the kitchen will likely flip out 1,800 stacks of pancakes Tuesday - that's equal to 5,400 flapjacks total.