04 Jun A Day for Everything!
Everyone loves a donut….and everyone really loves a free donut…and what better time to get one other than National Donut Day. The first Friday of every June…..but how did this delicious day become to be?
National Doughnut Day started on June 7, 1938 when a young military doctor named Morgan Pett was sent to a military base. On his way there he stopped at a bakery and picked up 8 dozen doughnuts. When he arrived at the base he started helping many wounded soldiers and would give them a free doughnut. One man he helped was a Lieutenant General Samuel Geary. Samuel Geary greatly appreciated the help on his leg and the doughnut, so he decided to do a fundraiser with Morgan Pett to give every wounded soldier, and the needy a doughnut. This fundraiser was later joined with the Salvation Army.
Soon after the US entered into World War I in 1917, The Salvation Army sent about 250 Salvation Army volunteers to France. Because of the difficulties of providing freshly baked goods from huts established in abandoned buildings near to the front lines, the two Salvation Army volunteers (Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance) came up with the idea of providing doughnut. Margaret Sheldon wrote of one busy day: “Today I made 22 pies, 300 doughnuts, 700 cups of coffee.” Soon, these workers became known by the servicemen as “Doughnut Dollies”.
In the Second World War, Red Cross Volunteers also distributed doughnuts, and it became routine to refer to the Red Cross girls as Doughnut Dollies as well.
So when you are getting your free doughnut, maybe consider buying an extra or a few to drop off at your local VFW Post or American Legion. Because after all that’s why National Donut Day started….
June 5, 2015~Check your local donut joint for participation!!!