Service Activities Big and Small Are Meaningful - Remember to Enter Your Celebrate America! Hours

While difficult to believe, 2015 will soon be upon us.  Where has 2014 gone?!   I can tell you that DAR members near and far have been serving those in their respective communities all year long as a means of honoring their heritage.  Many of these activities have been highlighted through previous blogs, Celebrate America! Night during Continental Congress, etc., in order to share the different ways that DAR members are making a difference.  

In the past we have mentioned many large scale service projects in which DAR members have been involved.  Many were events that took a lot of ‘woman’ power and planning.  Others required a great deal of time and physical work.  These projects are outstanding, but that’s not to say that smaller simpler service activities are not as meaningful or important.  By and large, most DAR members are tallying their hours of service doing ordinary things in ordinary ways. I hope you will think about the work you are doing within your community and consider involving yourself in a volunteer activity (perhaps a new activity for you!) that fits with your busy schedule but still impacts those around you.

Some examples of other members’ activities are:

• Serving in their churches (singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School, visiting those confined to their home, leading Bible study, food preparation for church events, etc.);
• Distributing food and holiday gifts to those less fortunate;
• Providing snacks for school teachers and first providers;
• Mentoring and reading to young children;
• Caring for animals at shelters;
• Picking up trash along roadways and pathways in the community;
• Visiting veterans in Veterans Administration facilities, state facilities, and nursing homes;
• Knitting, crocheting and quilting various projects for veterans and others;
• Supporting our military personnel and their families with notes, gifts, snacks;
• Writing notes of support for cancer patients;
• The list goes on!

I encourage you to look back on 2014.  Think about all the ways that you have made a difference to those around you.  If you have not already done so, please enter those service hours in the Celebrate America! Online Tally.  (Or, provide a list of those hours to your chapter so that another member can enter the hours for you.) 

Together with other Daughters, we will arrive at one total figure for hours served this past year.  But we can only do this with your help!  Hours of service performed January 1, 2014, through December 31, 2014, may be entered into the 2014 Online Tally prior to February 1, 2015. 

As you may know, in 2013 DAR members served a total of 4,760,314 hours in their communities.  This was a tremendous response to the announced goal of DAR members providing 10,000,000 hours of service within the three year Young Administration.  How many hours will be reported this year?  That is up to each of you!  But know that with each hour served and logged, together we are that much closer to achieving this remarkable goal!

I look forward to sharing the 2014 final total with you next year!