Greetings California Daughters!
June is a month of beginnings and endings. Graduations and the end of school are signals for both. California daughters are celebrating by awarding JROTC medals and planning projects for the upcoming year. The summer months provide a great opportunity to perform valuable service outside of the traditional meeting setting. While daughters serve the schools in their communities locally through committees like Community Classroom, the DAR Good Citizens program and the American History essay contest, let us not forget the DAR School Committee.
DAR School is a national committee that falls under the Education pillar of the DAR mission: Patriotism, Education and Historic Preservation. There are four DAR approved schools and one DAR School – Kate Duncan Smith School in Grant, Alabama. The California Society is supporting the Kate Duncan Smith DAR School’s 100th Anniversary by raising funds towards their renovation and construction of the Centennial Campus Commons. This space will provide additional learning opportunities for the students outside of the classroom. KDS, located in the Appalachian Mountains, is a school that began serving children in an area where access to education was extremely limited. Today, Kate Duncan Smith DAR School continues to provide opportunities for education while emphasizing patriotism, and responsible citizenship. At KDS more than 60% of the 1300 students live at or below the poverty level, so they need our assistance!
To encourage our California chapters to help reach California’s fundraising goal, a contest for chapters has been launched. Contest Link: https://members.californiadar.org/index.php/committee-chairmen/state-committees?layout=edit&id=122. The deadline for donations for the contest is Aug 1, 2023. Members may donate individually, and by noting their chapter, the chapter receives credit towards the contest.
Chapters may donate using the form linked here: https://members.californiadar.org/images/KDS_DAR_School_100th_Anniversary_Project_Donation_Flyer.pdf or at the CSSDAR Webstore www.CSSDARwebstore.org . Even if your chapter did not budget funds for this important initiative, you may still vote to donate, following your bylaws, of course.
Also, please consider becoming a GEM Sustaining Supporter- for as little as $10.00 per month you can help KDS continue to provide opportunities well into the future. This program is directly through KDS https://www.kdsdar.org/_files/ugd/6220cb_db5b9d9d9e814132927ababed0fceb30.pdf and not the NSDAR Sustaining Supporter program.
California daughters generously give of their time and resources to our local schools in support of Education. Kate Duncan Smith DAR School is also part of that commitment. While Alabama and the Appalachian might seem far removed from California, the National Society’s pledge to assist the education of underserved students through the DAR School committee is part of our mission and worthy of your support – as we continue to “Grow in Friendship and Service to God, Home, and Country”!
Thank you!
Sharon Maas
State Regent