Salvation Army celebrates National Donut Day with fundraiser

If you like donuts, Friday is a good day for you…plus you can help out a local organization.

Fifty cents of each donut sold at Linda’s Bakery in West Salem on Friday goes for the support of the Make a House a Home program run by the Salvation Army in La Crosse.

When someone who uses the shelter is able to move into permanent housing, the program provides a “care package” of necessities to help make the transition easier for the person.

“What we give them is a laundry basket, plates, silverware, some cups. We give them cleaning supplies, a mop and a broom and alongside those, toilet paper, shower curtain. People don’t understand…you move into a new apartment; there’s no shower curtain. You need that,” said Major Alan Hellstrom of the Salvation Army.

“It gets them off to a good start. So that’s why we call it Make a House a Home. Because an apartment is, yes, a dwelling place, but to make that apartment a home, you need these kinds of items that really help warm up the place and make it function.”

Major Hellstrom said that to go along with that, they give the person a special sendoff where staff congratulate the person for their success.

They also have case managers working with a person in an aftercare program to help reinforce the success.

Besides the fundraiser at Linda’s, the Salvation Army is spending part of Friday delivering donuts from Kwik Trip to 26 veteran’s organizations, police, fire, and emergency services locations around the area.

The Salvation Army has a more than 100-year connection to the donut. Members would serve donuts to troops coming off the line during World War I.