DAR National Headquarters is closed to the public for the 135th Continental Congress from Monday June 22 - Saturday June 26.
We are excited to welcome so many members to Washington, D.C. for an incredible week!

Celebrate America! Member Service Activities

DAR members have found some interesting ways to honor their heritage by performing volunteer service in their communities. They have cleaned, planned, knitted, read, painted, restored, taught, donated, walked, etc. But most importantly, they have served! DAR members stepped up to the initial challenge to perform 1 million community service hours in 2013 and ended up more than tripling that goal. These are just a few examples of how members served.

DAR Member, Barbara Peluso of the Ezra Parker Chapter in Royal Oak, Michigan, volunteers with an Honor Flight visit to Washington, DC. In this photo she is pictured with her WWII veteran who she assisted during the trip. Many DAR members are passionate about helping our veterans visit their monument in Washington, DC and many like Barbara have become active volunteers with their local Honor Flights.

Motivating co-workers to make a difference can be an experience. But for Allie Golon of the Doctor Susan Anderson Chapter in Colorado, she is up to the challenge! In order to boost the supplies at the local food bank before the holidays, she coordinated a canned food design competition for teams of her fellow employees. Each team was tasked with creating a structure or design of high protein/high caloric food items that were all then donated to the local food bank. They collected 1.5 tons of canned food (ov

Margaret Bobb, a member of the Long's Peak Chapter in Colorado, is a veteran of the US Air Force who served during the Lebanon/Grenada era. Early in 2013, she joined the nearby American Legion Post 32. She soon became a member of their Honor Guard, which puts in many, many volunteer hours doing military honors for veterans who have passed away. But, besides the funeral details, they also do programs at schools, churches, and nursing homes.

Arlene Pulner of Estero Island Chapter, Florida, found a creative way to help families cope with the grief of losing a loved one. VITAS Hospice in Naples needed volunteers to assist with their Memory Bear Project. When a loved one has passed the family can request bears be made from something special that belonged to that person....sometimes a blanket, a shirt, or a robe. The project can be particularly moving for the volunteer. Just ask Arlene! Since the beginning, she has made about 25 bears. One of the m

As women and DAR members, we are urged to pay attention to health issues – particularly that of breast cancer. Ami Lee Jenkins Talbot, a member of Oklahoma's newest chapter, the Chisholm Fork Chapter is a survivor. At the age of twenty-four, Ami had breast cancer, surgery and radiation treatments. She is now a twelve year survivor and is instrumental in helping other women who have been diagnosed with breast cancer. She gives them hope and the fighting spirit to keep going. Ami Talbot was one of twelve sele

Members of the Old White House-General Frelinghuysen-Colonel Lowrey Chapter in New Jersey created an entry for the Festival of Trees fundraiser sponsored by the Red Mill Museum, a historic mill museum in Clinton, New Jersey. Over the years, local organizations, business and individuals have made this event a success by decorating and donating trees and wreaths to be part of a silent auction. All proceeds go to support the Museum, a non-profit organization. This donation serves several purposes: it gives the

As DAR members we know that if we are determined enough, anything is possible. Carolyn Morris of the Vieux Carre Chapter of Louisiana proved this in a big way! At 70 years "young" she rappelled down a 28 story building – all to raise awareness to the number of kids in the Louisiana foster care system who are eligible for adoption. "What a blast! With a diverse group of celebrities including Tiger football coach Les Miles we gritted our teeth and handled our fears," she said. Many children were helped by the

DAR members have been known to work in pairs. Sometimes those pairs have an extra set of legs! Cheri Coley of the Marion Chapter in Arkansas volunteers with her therapy dog, Stormy, with a group called Love on a Leash. Once a week during the school year, they go to an elementary school to visit children who need some extra help with reading skills. In a program called "Sit! Stay! Read!" the children spend time with their friend Stormy reading all sorts of books. Cheri and her partner also go to the Springda

Dianne Laffey of the Hannah Goddard Chapter, Massachusetts, dressed up as a polar bear to advertise Brookline's Climate Week Events, which raises the community's awareness of climate change, the environment, energy and recycling through lectures, displays, and arts and crafts. Her husband and son joined her and they passed out flyers in Coolidge Corner, Brookline, Massachusetts. They met many people interested in the event and had many photo opportunities. The young children were adorable as some thought Di

Some members of the Job Winslow Chapter in Traverse City, MI participated in the Traverse City Fire Station Drill. Six gals showed up one early one chilly summer morning in order to be moulaged (to be made to appear with mock injuries). They were definitely great actors as they showed their skills all the while serving as victims during the drill. All went well as they learned about the medical and emergency functions of their city.

Imagine looking for lights in a storage area only to discover a trove of papier-mâché masks! Barbara Benton of the Annis Avery Hill Chapter in Michigan stumbled upon the mysterious collection at a local high school. Masks of people, animals, and other imaginary creatures abounded but were in poor condition after years of storage. Carefully examining the masks from the inside, Barbara discovered newspapers dating from 1938-1940. She set herself to the task of refurbishing the masks, cleaning and refreshing t

At times, members serve as community connectors. They are able to unite different volunteer groups in interesting ways. Consider Jane Hogan of the Davie Poplar Chapter, Chapel Hill, NC. As a board member of Learning Ally, a non-profit group which uses educational solutions for the reading disabled, she was introduced to Triangle Radio Reading Services, which connects people who are blind to each other, their communities, and families by delivering news, information, and entertainment using the latest audio

Six to eight members of the Tomahawk Chapter DAR in Kansas meet once a year in a member's home for an entire day to make stuffed lambs to send to Navajo Ministries, a Navajo Mission in New Mexico. The lambs are given to young Navajo children in crises who come to the mission for care and most come with nothing. The stuffed lamb is theirs to keep and love and to offer comfort to the child. The lamb in the Navajo society is symbolic because the group for centuries has depended upon sheep for food and liveliho

Sharing an interest in Scandinavian culture is an important community service for Marian Thompson of the Portland Chapter in Oregon. She is a member of the Scandinavian Heritage Foundation that coordinates a Friday Night Lecture series cosponsored by the Scandinavian Heritage Foundation and the Department of World Languages and Literature at Portland State University on the first Friday of the month during the academic year. The goal is to present free, regularly scheduled, quality Nordic culture and herita

Martha Steer of the John Reily Chapter, Ohio, and her husband are passionate about American history. After judging history-related contests like the Ohio History Day contest and the Constitutional Oratory sponsored by the American Legion, they decided to do more. They formed a new organization called the American Spirit Education Alliance (ASEA). The mission is to preserve the heritage and appreciation of our American history by bringing history to life. They do this by sponsoring an annual Patriot Fair in

Cathy Zientek and her sister Linda Humphreys live in Lyndhurst, NJ but are members of Mary Ingles Chapter in KY. They were eyewitnesses to the events of September 11. Within hours of the fall of the World Trade Center towers, local residents began leaving items at a fence where they had gathered to witness the tragic events, creating their own local memorial. The sisters took responsibility for maintaining the memorial fence and spend 7-8 hours each week repairing and replacing items lost or damaged by time

Alana Speckman, Eleanor Boston, and Jackie Gillespie, members of the Battle Creek Chapter, Michigan, have been involved with the painting, development and completion of three murals in the Convis Township Hall in Calhoun County, Michigan. Each mural is 9½ by 16½ feet and tells the history of the township. The first begins with the early settlers to the region in the early 1800s. It reflects the friendships and interactions of the settlers with Native Americans. The second mural is the period 1860 to 1920 an

Sometimes a service project presents an opportunity to impact a community beyond our immediate geographic surroundings. Sheila Peckham of the Lucretia Shaw Chapter, in Connecticut learned of a sewing project through her niece, Rebecca, who lives in Chicago. Rebecca works with troubled teens through Passion Outreach of North Chicago. Heart shaped pillows were needed for a weekend retreat. Sheila designed, cut and sewed the pillows which the young girls received during the weekend. Making a difference in the

Marsha Berland, a member of the Cactus Wren Chapter, Arizona, is a professional clown and often volunteers her time. Her alter ego, "Marshmellow," is a very patriotic clown dressed in red, white and blue and carries U.S. Flags when she is in parades. As she is also the literacy chair for her chapter, she tries to incorporate an element of reading in her message to children. This photo was taken when she was "clowning" at the Phoenix School for Homeless Children.

There are times when the seed of a project idea is planted but it does not develop into anything immediately. More than a year ago, Wendy Clayton of the Princess Sehoy Chapter of Alabama saw a pattern for adult clothing protectors and thought it would make a good project. So she purchased it not knowing exactly when or how the project would develop. Recently, she contacted a local nursing home to inquire if they might have a need for clothing protectors for their residents. The response was immediate! They

Karen Jordan Sinkovitz, a member of the Catherine Schuyler Chapter of New York, volunteered to make wreath covers for the wreaths laid on Veteran's Day at specific Airborne memorial markers at Arlington National Cemetery and major war memorials in Washington, DC, after observing that the previous year's covers were in disrepair. A retired Army Airborne Sergeant sent her an old green parachute, with the directions to make squares of cloth measuring 32". The final product was a set of thirteen covers with adj

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