LIHUE — The line from Daylight Donuts extended well into the parking lot behind Ace Hardware on Friday morning. “People were here before 6 a.m.,” said Salvation Army Cadet Helen Reyes. “There were a lot of people waiting for doughnuts,
LIHUE — The line from Daylight Donuts extended well into the parking lot behind Ace Hardware on Friday morning.
“People were here before 6 a.m.,” said Salvation Army Cadet Helen Reyes. “There were a lot of people waiting for doughnuts, and many were not aware it was National Donut Day.”
Sunny Sadaoka knew and planned ahead.
“I told myself to order ahead, and it completely slipped my mind,” Sadaoka said. “I panicked this morning, but was able to get an order in by 7:30 a.m.”
Sadaoka and her family were enjoying the fruits of her thoughtfulness while a steady stream of customers were greeted by empty pastry cases, some willing to wait the time it took to for a batch of cooking doughnuts to finish.
The first doughnut was free, but many bought more as proceeds went to Salvation Army.
“This is a lot,” said Sarah Duterte of Daylight Donuts. “We made more than 2,000 donuts and had to shut down before the 11 a.m. closing. We just have a few more customers who are picking up orders, but other than that, we’re sold out.”
Reyes said when she arrived here two years ago, there was no National Donut Day event.
“The Salvation Army is so grateful to Brad Celebrado and all of the Daylight Donut people for partnering with us to have this event,” she said. “We even had members of the Salvation Army Advisory Board participating in this event when Sara Miura stopped by for a couple of boxes. Eugene Jimenez said he didn’t know what he was going to do with the two boxes he picked up.”
Maj. Mario Reyes said the Salvation Army appreciation extended to his trips to deliver doughnuts to some of their partners, including the Central Pacific Bank, the Department of Water, the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative and the Kauai United Way.
“This is such a good feeling,” Mario said, watching one of the Sadaoka girls empty the coin container into the Red Kettle. “To be able to meet and talk with the people who support us is such a heart-warming feeling.”
National Donut Day, celebrating its 78th year, was started by the Salvation Army as a way to raise funds and bring awareness to its social services.
