National Donut Day Started in Chicago!

such a coincidence that my first donut binge on twitter this week led right into national donut day today!! Way cooler is that I just found out this tradition, that falls on the first Friday of june every year, started in 1938 right here in chicago as a fundraiser for the salvation army to help the needy during the great depression and to honor the women who served donuts to soldiers in world war I (see video above!).

apparently while the salvation army workers were in france to provide aid and comfort to the u.s. soldiers & rations were poor.. they thought the donut came to symbolize cheer & good work… and crazy part is, they made the donuts back then w/loads of sugar & lard, all fried in the soldiers helmets on the front lines!

the salvation army continues to provide care & comfort to those who battle hunger in the chicagoland area through its food pantries, meals on wheels, senior citizen feeding programs & childcare nutrition programs.  on june 4th and 5th donors can help the salvation army “take a bite out of hunger.”  there will be fundraisers on the street handing out doughnut day tags to donors and local celebrities will be participating in events & providing entertainment at the james r. thompson center from 11am-1pm.  also, in honor of this day, select krispy kreme stores & dunkin donuts are offering free donuts.  so grab a donut- or make a donation to the salvation army to keep this “holey” holiday alive!