A sweet celebration, 75 years in the making! The Salvation Army has partnered with Entenmann's Bakery, the maker of more than 100 sweet baked goods to celebrate the 75th Annual National Donut Day on June 1st, 2012 with a sweet program. The holiday, held annually on the first Friday of June, was established by The Salvation Army in 1938 to honor The Salvation Army's "Donut Lassies" who served these treats to soldiers during World War I. This significant occasion established the donut as a long-standing symbol of the services The Salvation Army continues to provide.

In its continued support of The Salvation Army, from April 22 to June 23 Entenmann's Bakery will donate to the organization $1 for every person who "likes" the Entenmann's Facebook page, up to $25,000. Entenmann's will also be rewarding lucky winners with 'Free Donuts for a Year' and additional prizes through their Facebook page.

"National Donut Day has become a true American tradition in which The Salvation Army and Entenmann's Bakery asks the general public to remember those who fought in World War I, as well as their neighbors who may have fallen on hard times," said Major George Hood, National Community Relations and Development Secretary for The Salvation Army.

75th Annual National Donut Day Fun Facts:

The Salvation Army:

• The Salvation Army started National Donut Day during the Great Depression as a way to raise funds and bring awareness to The Salvation Army's social service programs.
• National Donut Day commemorates the "donut lassies," female Salvation Army volunteers who provided writing supplies, stamps, clothes-mending and home-cooked meals, and of course, donuts, for soldiers on the front lines.
• Approximately 250 Salvation Army volunteers provided assistance to American soldiers in France starting in 1917 during WWI.
• With limited resources, these treats were fried, sometimes only seven at a time. The Salvation Army's Ensign Margaret Sheldon and Adjutant Helen Purviance cleverly thought of frying donuts in soldiers' helmets.
• Last year, 30 million Americans received assistance from The Salvation Army's 3,600 officers, 60,000 employees and 3.4 million volunteers.

Entenmann's Bakery:

• Entenmann's has made more than 4 billion donuts - if you laid them end-to-end, you could wrap them around the earth almost 9 times!
• The Rich Frosted Donut has been the #1 seller since its introduction in 1972. (2012 marks the 40-Year Anniversary - that's a sweet celebration.)
• Entenmann's Donut Facility in Carlisle, Pennsylvania is the largest Donut Plant in the United States, producing more than 40 million boxes of yummy delight each year.
• Believing that people were more inclined to buy what they can see, the Entenmann's brothers, William, Robert and Charles, and mother, Martha, invented the familiar "see-through" cake box for baked goods in 1959.
• At one time, more than 168 million pounds of chocolate have been used for Entenmann's Rich Frosted Donuts, enough to fill all of the Great Lakes.
• In the early '50s, Frank Sinatra used to call the Bay Shore bakery to place weekly orders from Entenmann's.