About 15 years ago, the founder of Sport Clips Haircuts, a premiere hair care franchise, began a partnership with VFW. His goal: To help military members and veterans.
Gordon Logan, a Vietnam War veteran and VFW Life member, founded the company in 1995. As VFW’s official haircutter, Sport Clips began working with VFW in 2005 to raise funds for a past program called Operation Uplink.
The endeavor provided military members with free calling cards to get in touch with family members back home.
Sport Clips CEO Edward Logan (left) and his father, Sport Clips founder and VFW Life member Gordon Logan, pose for a photo in July 2021 at Sport Clips Support Center in Georgetown, Texas.“Now that many service members have returned since then, we wanted to shift our focus to them with their education,” said Gordon, Sport Clips Chairman and a former Air Force pilot with the 776th Tactical Airlift Sqdn., 516th Tactical Airlift Wing.
In 2013, Sport Clips became the primary supporter of VFW’s Sport Clips Help a Hero Scholarship. Since then, the scholarship has provided 2,050 scholarships totaling more than $9.2 million.
Sport Clips President and CEO Edward Logan, son of Gordon, said Sport Clips’ partnership with VFW has been rewarding. To date, the company has raised about $9.7 million for VFW’s Sport Clips Help a Hero Scholarship program.
“VFW has been our pinnacle relationship over the past decade-plus,” Edward said. “VFW is a part of our culture. Helping veterans through the Help a Hero program really has become a part of who we are.”
Edward graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 2008 with a business degree. Out of school, he became a consultant for Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting in Irving, Texas.
He later began working at Sport Clips full-time by managing one store. From there, he gained experience throughout the various levels of the organization.
Earlier this year, the father and son presented a donation to the Help A Hero Scholarship of more than $1 million to then-VFW Commander-in-Chief Hal Roesch II and VFW Foundation Administrator Richard Potter. For next year, Edward said Sport Clips will continue to raise money through its annual in-store fundraising campaign each fall.
“We were glad to be able to raise that much during the pandemic,” Edward said. “We felt really good about that and want to keep that momentum through next year to raise more for veterans’ scholarships.”
Gordon, who also is a board member of the VFW Foundation, said that he has seen many scholarship recipients not only obtain an undergraduate degree but also move on to graduate from law schools, medical schools and other post-graduate programs.
“The scholarship was a big help to them,” Gordon said. “It’s a way for veterans to make a successful transition into the civilian world without accruing a lot of student debt and stress.”
Gordon said he has met several scholarship recipients over the years. He recalled one recipient named Seth Atchison. The Navy veteran graduated from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Kansas City, Kan.
“Now he’s Dr. Seth Atchison,” Gordon said. “It’s a good feeling to know that we helped him along the way."
This article is featured in the October 2021 issue of VFW magazine, and was written by Dave Spiva, associate editor for VFW magazine.