National Donut Day Celebrates Veterans

Friday morning, more than 100 Los Angeles veterans, active duty military, and homeless veterans of the Salvation Army’s Haven Shelter  gathered on the Veterans Administration grounds to enjoy doughnuts and celebrate National Donut Day.

According to information provided by the Salvation Army, doughnuts and American veterans go back to World War I, and the celebration of Donut Day goes back to the 1930s.

The crowd at the VA had a lot to celebrate. Stan’s Donuts in Westwood Village treated the crowd to hundreds of sweet treats. And BakeMark, a bakery supply company, donated $10,000 to the Haven.

Allen McDaniel, a 52-year-old veteran, told the crowd about his struggle with addiction and how Haven helped get his life back on track.

“They say I’m a success story,” he said choking back tears. “And that makes me real proud."

“Not long ago, I didn’t know who I was or where I was going,” he said. McDaniel was in and out of jail and it wasn’t until a judge put him in touch with Haven that his life started to turn around. Now he works for the Veterans Administration.

The Salvation Army Haven Homeless Shelter serves more than 2,000 veterans every year. More than 1,000 doughnut shops and bakeries participated in National Donut Day by hanging a sign in their store windows reminding people to honor veterans.

The history of doughnuts goes back to World War I. Evangeline Booth, the daughter of Salvation Army founder William Booth, gathered a group of women to go to France to help out wounded soldiers. The Lassies, as they were called, baked pies and introduced the soldiers to what would become one of the America’s favorite pastries, the doughnut.

When the soldiers returned home, they asked for doughnuts, and bakeries soon caught on. The first National Donut Day was in 1938 in Chicago to raise money during the Depression.