A LOOK BACK AT NATIONAL DONUT DAY 2023
The 2023 edition of National Donut Day was a wonderful one for The Salvation Army of Omaha, as members of our staff made donut deliveries to area veterans and thanked them for their service to America.
Donut Day’s history can be traced back to the first half of the twentieth century. In 1938, the first-ever National Donut Day was celebrated in Chicago, and the history of The Salvation Army’s Donut Lassies was officially immortalized. In 1917, these women were sent to France to establish field bases near the front lines. In makeshift huts, thousands of soldiers would come to stock up on essential goods and grab a sweet treat baked by the Lassies.
Both the presence of these courageous women and the donuts that tasted of home brought a light of hope and happiness to the battlefield — a much-needed morale boost for languishing soldiers. In fact, the Donut Lassies are also credited with popularizing the donut in the United States after the troops (commonly known as “doughboys”) came back from fighting in Europe. And still today, over a hundred years later, The Salvation Army continues to serve on the front lines through a wide range of social services for the most vulnerable individuals and families living in the United States.
Back in Omaha, our representatives celebrated this latest Donut Day (last Friday) by delivering hundreds of donuts to two veterans’ programs: the Eastern Nebraska Veterans’ Home in Bellevue, and our very own VA-HOPP and VA-CASS programs at The Salvation Army Renaissance Village campus in midtown Omaha.
Our sincerest thanks go out to LaMar’s Donuts in west Omaha for donating all the sweet treats that we distributed to local veterans this year! It made for a fun and memorable day for everyone involved.