Krispy Kreme is presently offering free doughnuts in exchange for Mardi Gras Beads. Krispy Kreme offers free doughnuts in exchange of your beads! For every 12 pounds of Carnival beads you bring in, a coupon for a dozen Honey Glazed doughnuts will be given in return!

A dozen for a dozen, really a win-win situation. Participating bead collectors can redeem their donuts at the Metaire branch, starting March 23 until March 25, 7am to 10pm. 

Yes, it was fun collecting beads during the grand Mardi Gras festival in New Orleans every February. Some people keep the beads as a remembrance, while others include them in their collection. But for the festival regulars, beads are left lying around the house, collecting dust.

The Beads for Doughnuts Program is now on its fifth year this year, continuing their legacy and contribution to Arc of Greater New Orleans, a nonprofit that serves adults with disabilities.

"We have people on staff who get paid minimum wage or higher, and they sort beads. So all the money we make goes back to paying employees," Arc's recycling coordinator Margie Perez told WDSU News.

The Arc of Greater New Orleans is striving to provide a better and fair living condition for people with disabilities, by providing them their basic needs, as well as employing them and treating them as fully-abled individuals.

For the past five years, the bead drive has collected 175,000 pounds of beads. Though almost 200 million pounds are being produced every year, the organizers still consider their program a success. "It's a drop in the bucket, but at least it's 175,000 (pounds) that's not going to hit the landfills," Perez said.

However, collectors that are not much of a sweet tooth but still want to drop off some beads or pitch in some donations, everyone can do so at any ARC drop off locations and booths all over the city including Clearview Mall, Pontchartrain Center in Kenner, Neurological Rehabilitation Center in Covington and Mardi Gras World.