The Salvation Army gave out hundreds of doughnuts in honor of the fried dough's special day Friday.
According to The New York Daily News, the non-profit organization partnered with Entenmanns for the 77th annual national doughnut day event in New York City's Madison Square Park.
Two participants told The Daily News that receiving one of Entenmann's free stuffed doughnut toys changed their life.
"It's the only thing I wanted," Meni Tsoukalas said. "We will never forget this. It has made our day. Entenmann's also supplied edible kinds of the treat.
Entenmann's category director told The Daily News the baked goods corporation was proud to contribute to a good cause.
"We're really honored to be able to partner with them and to be able to help them support the community," Lisa Mahon said. "We want to sell doughnuts obviously, but this is really goes back to serving people and the community." The company presented a $30,000 check to The Salvation Army. The two organizations have now raised $100,000 through the four-year old collaborative effort.
The Chicago Salvation Army created the holiday to recognize women who gave World War I soldiers doughnuts during the troubling time in history a Dunkin Donuts press release reported. According to The Daily News, these were dubbed Doughnut Lassies. The organization also established National Doughnut Day to collect money for social ministry use throughout the Great Depression according to USA Today.
A Salvation Army officer told The Daily News, the women wanted to recognize the soliders' good work.
"They wanted to do something that was a little special for them," Salvation Army Major James Betts said. "They found that they had enough ingredients to do a doughnut, and they actually boiled them in the helmets of the soldiers, right on the frontlines and in the foxholes."
