Activities

Service is the Cornerstone of our Chapter

The Harmony Hall Chapter, NSDAR, is an active group of women dedicated to helping our community and honoring our ancestors. We do this through historic preservation, promotion of education, and patriotic endeavors. Performing an average of just over 2,500 hours of community service a year, we personify today's DAR! Below are just some of the amazing service projects and activities we have been involved with or are actively working on. Please send us an email or follow us on Facebook for up-to-date news on all our activities.

Click on each section below to expand it and read more about the work of our chapter.

Patriotism

Serving Our Veterans and Active-Duty Military

Participate in honoring our veterans at the local Rolling Thunder (now Rolling to Remember) Open House held each Memorial Day weekend.
Support active-duty servicemen and women with care packages including hand-made items and personal notes.
Place wreaths at Maryland Veterans Cemetery at Cheltenham for the holiday season.
Remember our female veterans over the holiday season at our local Veterans Home.
Participate as guides to area Honor Flights.

Historic Preservation

Helping to Preserve Our Cultural Heritage

The chapter recently received the Maryland State DAR Award for Historic Preservation for our work supporting the restoration of a local 1770's farmhouse.
Members roll up our sleeves to clear away debris from the grounds at Harmony Hall Manor.
Members transcribe historical documents for the Maryland State Archives.
Host tours of Harmony Hall Manor which boasts the oldest known man-made canal and the Want Water House.
Transcribe tombstones at historical area church cemetery and digitally preserve images on them online for the benefit of future generations.

Education

Supporting America’s Youth

Members work to promote literacy by collecting new and used books which are then donated to area families, libraries, and businesses.
School supplies are donated to area schools.
Sponsor NSDAR youth programs such as DAR Good Citizens Award, American History Essay Contest, Christopher Columbus Essay Contest, and Eighth Grade History Awards.
Encourage school children, churches, and individuals to participate in Constitution Week.
The chapter annually recognizes outstanding ability and achievement of high school and junior college students participating in the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) program.
Box Tops for Education and Coca Cola Give Back codes are collected for the benefit DAR-sponsored schools.

Community

Making a Difference in our Community

Donate items to the free shop serving area active-duty military E6 and below.
Collect craft items for local libraries and senior centers.
Purchase items to create healthcare kits that are distributed to the homeless in our community.
Gather toiletries, clothing, and household items to assist women and children in crisis as they begin a new life.
Donate clothing and household items to an in-house thrift store that operates for the purpose of reducing the cost of medical and dental care for those with little or no insurance.

Conservation

Helping to Protect the Earth

Conduct regular litter cleanups along the Maryland shore of the Potomac River.
Lead local Girl Scout Troops in activities that teach about the various native pollinators found throughout Maryland and help them to make solitary bee houses out of recycled materials to install in their own yards.
The chapter supports a local education foundation, most recently with gardening tools for their education program and plants for the redesigned museum garden with a focus on native pollinators.
Members plant pollinator gardens and make bee-friendly watering containers.