June 3rd is Donut Day. Not merely some advertising exec's dream to drum up business, this tradition has its roots in The Salvation Army.
Donut Day was established in 1938 as a means to raise much-needed operating funds for The Salvation Army, and also as a tribute to Army 'lassies' who made and served donuts to thousands of soldiers during World War I. While the spelling of doughnut has shortened to "donut" over the years, the popular donut has been the trademark of The Salvation Army ever since WWI. While Donut Day was observed fairly extensively, especially following WWII, by The Salvation Army throughout the United States, the Army in Chicago has the longest continous and most successful tradition.
Leah Shahum, Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, has an outstanding editorial in today's San Francisco Chronicle in which she notes that, although the city of San Francisco will host World Environment Day 2005 this week, we are far from exemplary in putting people first in our transit and urban planning.
