It’s National Doughnut Day!!!

National Day of…..

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Quick, go mark your calendar!!!  Set the alarm!!!  You gotta get up early tomorrow!!!  Friday, June 3, 2022, is National Doughnut Day!!!  You’ve got to run out and pick up a dozen or so doughnuts!!!  Yes, you do!!!  Lots of places are giving away free doughnuts!!!  Yes, really!!!  Google it.  But, just in case you miss it, there will be another Doughnut Day on November 5^th.  So, you’ll have another chance.  Go mark that calendar now….

                                                                 …..we’ll wait. 

So, what’s the back story here?

Well, it began in Chicago in 1938.  The Salvation Army sold doughnuts to raise funds for those in need during the Great Depression.  Doughnuts were chosen because the Salvation Army was known for their Doughnut Girls of World War I who had set up canteens in abandoned buildings near front lines to serve baked goods; mend clothes; and provide paper, pens, and stamps to the weary soldiers.  There were about 250 Salvation Army volunteers who traveled to France in 1917 to set up the canteens.  They produced and served baked goods for the U.S. troops.  They could and did serve hundreds of doughnuts and just as many cups of hot coffee every single day!!! 

 

The service continued during WWII with the American Red Cross’ Clubmobile Service.  The Clubmobiles were equipped with a kitchen area containing a stove and a built-in, doughnut-making machine.  They operated from 1942 to 1946 traveling all through Britain and Europe dispensing “a connection home” and providing some entertainment and lots of yummy food.  Then, they did it again during the Korean War.   By then, the Doughnut girls were affectionately known as the Red Cross Donut Dollies, and they would dispense up to 20,000 doughnuts a day.

From February 1962 to March 1973, the Donut Dollies serving in Vietnam logged over 2,000,000 miles by jeep, deuce-and-a-half, and helicopter visiting combat troops at remote fire bases.  And you know what—-they dispensed not a single doughnut!!!  Nope, they set up recreation centers, visited hospitals, comforted the wounded.  There were 627 Donut Dollies who served in Vietnam.  Three of them died in service.  In 1993, the Vietnam Women’s Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington D.C.  The monument was designed by Glenna Goodacre and funded by the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Foundation established by Diane Carlson Evans (a former Army nurse) in 1984.

And what is the bottom line here?    

Please remember, as you enjoy your luscious, sugary treat today:  the National Doughnut Day began in 1938 as an honor to the women who volunteered to serve with the Salvation Army in WWI.  From those days in 1918 right on to the days of Vietnam, women have volunteered and served in times of need.  The traditional celebration continues every year on the first Friday of June.

Kit, this one’s for you!!!

Oh, and by the way…..

…..the 2^nd National Doughnut Day coming up on November 5, 2022—that is linked to the birthday of the United States Marine Corps on November 10, 1775!!!  The story goes:  American prisoners of war at Son Tay prison camp in Vietnam tricked their North Vietnamese guards into dispensing doughnuts in honor of the occasion!!!  The ruse is celebrated every year on November 5^th.