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The center keeps up with the sweet Salvation Army tradition.
By Dawn Wright
The temperature was high and so were spirits when The Salvation Army in Paso Robles braved record 80-degree weather to serve seniors coffee and donuts at the Paso Robles Senior Center and Vets Hall. The sweet gesture was part of San Luis Obispo County Service Extension’s annual National Donut Day celebration and ongoing social services for the area’s seniors.
All told, volunteers distributed 15 dozen donuts among seniors and vets, visitors at the Paso Robles Pioneer Museum, and even community members walking their dogs at the neighboring dog park. Community volunteers helped make the day possible.
National Donut Day—though a highly commercialized holiday today—began when The Salvation Army in Chicago held a fundraiser for food for the hungry during the Great Depression. The Army’s ties to donuts harken back to World War 1 when women volunteers called “lassies” made donuts on the frontlines of war with on-hand ingredients, frying them in soldiers’ helmets. These women were true heroes—not unlike the men they were serving.
“Most people were excited to learn about the beginnings of the donuts,” said Beth Quaintance, service extension representative for San Luis Obispo County.
The event not only served to celebrate seniors and honor the history behind National Donut Day, but also to start generating support and excitement for Christmas.
“Several people wanted to pay for their donuts but we declined of course and told them to wait for the red kettles, which are coming soon!” Quaintance said. “Some donut recipients said they couldn’t wait to bell ring or count money for us!”
The community support is mission critical to Paso Robles. Service extensions in San Luis Obispo County are the only locations in the Southern California Division that operate a solely volunteer staffed Red Kettle campaign at Christmas.
