The Pike County Salvation Army treated its morning customers to donuts on Friday, National Donut Day.

During WW I, Evangeline Booth, who was the Army’s US National Commander, created a National War Board in order to meet the need of solders overseas,

“She sent women, known as lassies, to the front lines in France in order to make and serve donuts to the homesick soldiers,” said Donna Kidd, Pike County Salvation Army director.

With limited resources, these treats were fried, only seven at a time. The Salvation Army’s Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance cleverly thought of frying donuts in soldiers’ helmets.

The ‘lassies’ transported the pastries to the soldier by pushing them down on the bayonets. “That’s where the donut gets its hole,” Kidd said.

The donut gained a foothold in America when the soldiers returned home longing for the treat they were served by the women of the Salvation Army.

In 1938, the Salvation Army in Chicago established the first National Donut Day to honor the women who served the soldiers the tasty treats.