Raleigh DAR Recognizes Outstanding Community Volunteers

RALEIGH, NC: Micajah Bullock Chapter, NSDAR presented two community volunteers with the DAR Community Service Award on Saturday, January 14, 2023. The DAR Community Service Award is presented to worthy individuals and organizations for outstanding voluntary service.

Since 2015, McKenzie Hardison has served with Caring Connections Ministry where she has mentored three women and served on the board for six years. She volunteers as a coach each week, sponsors families at Christmas, supports fundraising, and garners community support. She creates welcome baby bundles for new moms, collects furniture and home items for families coming out of homelessness, and recently arranged for a gift card donation so a woman washing clothes could wash clothes at the laundromat. Throughout the years, McKenzie has babysat the children of program participants, offered temporary housing when a participant was unable to find a place to live and helped a participant secure employment. Cynthia Thelen, Director of Caring Connections Ministry notes, “McKenzie gives her time, finances, and heart out of joy and not out of obligation. She engages others to use their skills and resources to lift women in poverty up to build a firm foundation for self-sufficiency. Through her efforts, she is not only supporting the women we serve but strengthening our community as a whole by educating others of the challenges of poverty and community support and engaging them to take action.”

The Caring Connections Ministry is a mentoring program for women who feel overwhelmed and alone as they face barriers of poverty, substance misuse recovery, re-entry after justice involvement, or underemployment. Their mission is to equip participants with essential skills that lead to self-sufficiency through a personal mentoring relationship that provides support, hope, and guidance. To learn more, visit www.caringconnectionsministry.com.

Don Ellington of New Bethel City Church volunteers his time on the greeting and safety committees, as well as assisting with building maintenance, including lighting and electrical issues. As the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the church’s ability to gather in person, Don donated his time and sound equipment to allow for church services to be held in the parking lot. In addition, Don helps set up for numerous fellowship food functions, distributes clothing and food at Moore Square in Raleigh, and was instrumental in providing lighting and sound for Micajah Bullock’s 50th Anniversary Tea & Fashion Show.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a women’s service organization whose members can trace their lineage to an individual who contributed to securing American independence during the Revolutionary War. Today’s DAR is dynamic and diverse, with over 185,000 members in 3,000 chapters in the United States and abroad. DAR members annually provide millions of hours of volunteer service to their local communities across the country and world. DAR chapters participate in projects to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Over one million members have joined the organization since its founding in 1890.

If you are interested in learning more about DAR membership and service projects, please contact Micajah Bullock Chapter, NSDAR at mbchapter1776@gmail.com.