Community Service and Education

Fleece Blankets Keep Women Warm in a Local Shelter

Members of the Mary Wooster Chapter, NSDAR, in Danbury crafted blankets that were donated to an area homeless women's shelter.

Patriotic Pillowcases Sewn to Honor and Thank Veterans

Members of the Trumbull-Porter Chapter, NSDAR, in Watertown show their appreciation to veterans by sewing patriotic pillowcases that were distributed locally.

Feeding the Hungry is A Top Priority for Many Chapters

Daughters often use chapter gatherings to collect food for their local food pantries. Members of the Abigail Phelps Chapter, NSDAR, collected on behalf of the food pantry in Simsbury.

Restocking Food Pantry Helps Prepare for Incoming Clients

In addition to gathering food donations, chapters are asked to help restock their local food pantry after large and much-needed food collections arrive from area postal workers or local church groups.

American Revolutionary War Era Cemetery Revitalized and Maintained

Local cemeteries are often forgotten even if the graves of American Revolutionary War era Patriots reside there. Chapter members from the Trumbull-Porter Chapter, NSDAR, gather to clean their local cemetery and plant flowers alongside members of the Children of the American Revolution (C.A.R.).

DAR Awards and Scholarships Benefit Many Throughout the Years

Connecticut DAR chapters offer many awards and scholarships within their communities. Some of the awards that they may bestow involve the American History Essay Contest. They may also acknowledge young people in their local high schools through the DAR Good Citizens Award. An Americanism Medal is awarded to a naturalized American citizen for work done with fellow immigrants or within his or her American community. The Community Service Award and the Historic Preservation Award are also given to members of the community.

“Community Classroom Initiative” Offers Classroom Support and Involvement

Chapters adopt a specific classroom and assist either by reading to students, tutoring after school, or by providing supplies to support various areas of classroom study. The Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter, NSDAR, supports a teacher in the Bronx by purchasing back-to-school craft supplies, requested reading books, and other items for this low-income area. Recently, a teacher asked for postcards from all fifty states. Using the postcards that their Daughters and their family members mailed to her, she taught her special needs classroom about geography.

Chapters Support DAR Schools in a Variety of Ways

All of these schools were begun in rural and disadvantaged areas where public education was not accessible. The mission of these schools is to provide traditional values and educational skills to the students to help them reach their full potential. While each school has a different focus, they serve a variety of special needs programs including adult literacy, attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, and children in a family crisis. Each school is now owned and operated by a private, non-profit corporation in the state in which it is located.

Connecticut DAR chapters support these schools by gathering school supplies and backpacks that are shipped to the schools before the beginning of the school year. Connecticut Daughters support a variety of requested supplies like textbooks, choir outfits, and calculators. Chapters also collect valuable Boxtops for Education on behalf of all DAR Schools.