When Victoria Hughes handed a stack of pancakes to a homeless man on Nov. 24, she likely didn’t expect the meal to cost her more than $8, let alone her job.
But as of today, she’s not only been offered her position back at the Lakeland IHOP where she worked for 13 years, but she’s also raised more than $3,000 in donations, to a fundraiser circulating online and the television station WFLA. Talk about flipping the script.
From Pancakes to Pink Slips
The chain of events began on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving when Hughes encountered a hungry man at the restaurant. Without hesitation, she bought him a stack of pancakes and some water. Kind? Yes. Problematic? Not to her—though her manager thought otherwise.
“He told me the reason behind him being upset [was] because it could cause a loitering issue…or a safety issue for customers,” Hughes told WFLA.
Apparently, feeding the man once wasn’t enough to rock the IHOP griddle. But when he came back later with a family who bought him another meal, the situation escalated. Two days after her good deed, Hughes got the call: she was being let go for violating “company policy.”
“I asked him, ‘For what?’” Hughes recalled. “He said, ‘company policy.’”
If corporate rules have a way of sounding vague, this one seems as murky as yesterday’s coffee pot.
Corporate Damage Control
The backlash came fast. News outlets picked up the story, and public sympathy for Hughes poured in. By Nov. 29, the IHOP franchisee, Sunshine Restaurant Partners, was flipping their own damage-control pancakes, announcing an internal investigation and new training for employees on food insecurity.
Dan Enea, CEO of the franchise group, released a statement promising donations to local Lakeland charities and partnerships with Feeding America.
“As part of our ongoing efforts to support those in need within our local community, we will continue to address food insecurity,” Enea wrote, likely between sips of a very strong coffee.
Then came the olive branch or, in this case, the spatula: IHOP’s corporate office offered Hughes her job back and promised to compensate her for the missed days.
But Hughes isn’t rushing to put the apron back on. “I need my job, but I would still do it again,” she said. “I have to think about it.”
A GoFundMe Boom and Public Support
While she’s mulling her next move, public support for Hughes has been overwhelming. A GoFundMe she created to help her through the holiday season initially had a modest $1,000 goal. By Dec. 12, that goal was not only met but demolished—raising over $3,000.
“I was also publicly humiliated for feeding a homeless man,” Hughes wrote on the campaign page. “I would just like a little bit of help to get me through the holiday season.”
More than 100 donors have chipped in, with one contributor writing, “You deserve better, Victoria. Keep doing what’s right!”
IHOP, Public Perception, and Pancakes
The Lakeland IHOP likely didn’t anticipate this level of backlash over a short stack, but the incident has put a spotlight on the tension between corporate policies and individual acts of kindness.
Meanwhile, Hughes is taking the holidays to reflect. Whether she’ll return to her old job is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s clear: she has no regrets.
“I truly would do it again,” Hughes said, adding with a laugh, “If he asked me for my shirt, I probably would have tried to give him that, too.”
As of now, Hughes has a few things to be thankful for: a wave of public support, more than $3,000 in donations, and the knowledge that one good deed can stir up more than syrup in a pancake house.
