Sweet! Get a Free Dunkin' Donut Friday

There's Fasnacht Day, and then there's National Donut Day.

Fasnacht Day is a Pennsylvania Dutch tradition around Lent, when special donuts are made on Shrove Tuesday; it was in February this year.

Donut Day was originally a fundraiser for the Salvation Army on the first Friday in June for the last 74 years. Any donut will do.

These especially sweet days have two things in common. The first is alternate spellings. Is it Fasnacht, Fastnacht or Faschnacht? Is it donut, or doughnut?

In any case, the more obvious commonality is that it's a time to eat the donuts.

Donut shops across the nation — including those in the Lehigh Valley — will hand out free donuts to customers.

Dunkin' Donuts is on board with the holiday. For a free donut, you'll need to purchase a beverage (hot or cold), according to its "Behind the Beans" blog. You might want to do this in the morning. The company says it will hand out one free donut of a customer's choice "while supplies last."

Pick up your free donut at these local Dunkin Donut shops:

• Dunkin Donuts: 6366 Hamilton Blvd, Allentown
• Dunkin Donuts: 4030 Chestnut St, Emmaus
• Dunkin Donuts: 402 W Emaus Ave, Allentown

Krispy Kreme, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year, is offering a sweet deal: no purchase necessary, for a free donut of your choice (one per customer). All you have to do is drive to  or close to Philadelphia to find a Krispy Kreme shop. There's a Krispy Kreme in Levittown and Bensalem.

Learn more about National Donut Day on the Dunkin Donuts Facebook and Twitter pages.