Cajun Market Donut Company Honoring Veterans & Acadiana Families By Giving Free Donuts On Friday

National Donut Day is Friday, June 3rd, and Cajun Market Donut Company will be giving away a free donut with no purchase necessary at all four of their locations - on Rue Louis XIV and Pinhook Road, both in Lafayette, as well as locations on St. Nazaire Road in Broussard and Courthouse Street in Breaux Bridge.

This is part of National Donut (originally spelled Doughnut) Day, which is celebrated every year, always on the first Friday in June. It's a holiday that has deep ties to the Salvation Army, according to this article.

They are doing this in honor of veterans and Acadiana families. After all, National Donut Day commemorates the “donut lassies,” female Salvation Army volunteers who provided home-cooked meals, and of course, donuts, for soldiers on the front lines during WWI.

With limited resources, these treats were fried, only seven at a time. The Salvation Army’s Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance would fry donuts in oil inside of the soldiers' metal helmets, providing a morale boost to the troops by serving soldiers their home cooked doughnuts. These "Lassies" were sent to the front lines of Europe in World War I.

The Chicago Salvation Army established National Doughnut Day in 1938 as a way to raise money during the Great Depression. The annual holiday also helps raise money for the Salvation Army across the country, allowing people the opportunity to give to the worthy cause as they are partaking of their delicious free treat.