Like Father, Like Son: How Donuts Created the Sweet Tradition of Giving Back
When you bite into a donut, what goes through your mind? Maybe it’s the sweetness of the donut or the soft dough that melts in your mouth. For Thad Adams, it’s an image of his father – young, exhausted, and thousands of miles from home – biting into a donut handed to him by a stranger wearing a Red Shield stitched on her blouse.
Adams, a retired lawyer and Sunday School teacher at Myers Park United Methodist Church, is a longtime donor to The Salvation Army.
“It all started with my dad,” he says.
Adams’ father, Wesley T. Adams, Jr., was drafted as a soldier in March 1943, at the age of 19. He served around the country, but one of his most notable deployments was Prestwick, Scotland, during World War II. The two-week trip was rough, riding through bumpy waves and winds so high soldiers couldn’t cook or make coffee for fear of scolding. Their travel didn’t end on a boat; soldiers had to hop on a troop train, traveling south to their base.
Many men, including Wesley, arrived in Scotland hungry, tired, and broke. At the train station, Adams says his father recalls seeing a group of women standing by a sign that read, “Free Coffee and Donuts.” It was The Salvation Army Donut Lassies.
“My dad says they were intensely grateful,” says Adams. “For the entire time my dad was in Europe, which was well over a year, there was always a Salvation Army group nearby.”
Wesley continued supporting The Salvation Army well past his duties as a soldier.
“As I was growing up, we would always go by the Red Kettle,” he says. “He would put some money in, and he would give me some coins to put in. I remember a couple of times when he told the guy ringing the bell, “Thanks for the coffee and donuts.”
Since his teenage years, Adams continued in his father’s footsteps by supporting The Salvation Army. His donations support programs and initiatives geared towards women and children experiencing homelessness, youth programs, Christmas assistance, and more. Adams has also spent time volunteering with his church during Christmas at the Angel Tree distribution center.
Though Adams' father has passed, his story remains in his heart – forever tying him to his father and The Salvation Army.