Westchester DAR Member develops volunteer leadership skills

(Chappaqua, NY) Polly Cooper Chapter, NSDAR congratulates Rosemarie Schmidt on her completion of the DAR Members course which included an independent project sending care packages to U.S. Navy women serving aboard the USS Mesa Verde.

Rosemarie has been a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) for six years and serves as Chaplain for the Polly Cooper Chapter. DAR is a women’s service organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, patriotism and honoring the members’ ancestors who were patriots of the Revolutionary War.

Graduates of the DAR Members course complete at least 35 modules covering a wide variety of topics about the National Society, its service missions and committees, as well as an independent project.

Rosemarie’s independent project involved sending care packages to women serving aboard the USS Mesa Verde. She purchased items and obtained donations to fill boxes with both practical and fun gifts designed to bolster morale and show appreciation for the sailors serving away from home. She also utilized wish list suggestions for deployed service members through the DAR Project Patriot Committee, a national committee of the Daughters of the American Revolution focusing on America’s service members and their families.

The project was particularly meaningful to Rosemarie: “As the wife of a Vietnam era veteran and the daughter of a World War II veteran, I know first-hand how much support from home means to our veterans and our active military. My project focused on service women aboard the USS Mesa Verde because it is important to recognize the increased number of women in our Armed Forces who can be inadvertently overlooked as care packages are often designed with male recipients in mind.”

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR), a non-profit, non-political women’s service organization, was founded in 1890 to preserve the memory and spirit of those who contributed to securing American independence. With approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world's largest and most active volunteer service organizations. To learn more about the work of today's DAR, visit www.dar.org.

Polly Cooper Chapter, NSDAR was established in Chappaqua, New York, and our service projects have supported education and literacy, historic preservation, conservation initiatives, veterans and active-duty service members, genealogy research, naturalization ceremonies for new citizens, and more. Our members live throughout Northern Westchester County and beyond.

Now is a great time to find out if you have an American Revolutionary ancestor as our nation approaches the semiquincentennial, or 250th anniversary, of the United States in 2026. For more information about Polly Cooper Chapter's activities and membership, please email the chapter at info@pollycooperdar.org.