Community Connections
Shining a local light on:
Cannon Ridge Chapter DAR
Proudly serving:
Learn more about their charity:
Community Connections
Community Connections shines a light on local charities whose compassion, service, and dedication strengthen the fabric of our community. By sharing their stories, we hope to inspire others and help the spirit of giving spread throughout our towns.
Under the spotlight today: Cannon Ridge Chapter DAR
An interview with Jennifer St. Victor-de Pinho, Cannon Ridge Chapter DAR
How do you brighten our community?
We are a patriotic, strictly nonpartisan, nonpolitical volunteer women's service organization. We focus on providing support and services in our local communities near Ridgefield, Connecticut. As a diverse multigenerational group of women, we encourage others who believe they may have a patriot ancestor to reach out and connect with us. Even if you're not sure if you have a patriot, we have members who are happy to work on genealogy with you.
We focus on Education, Patriotism, and Historic Preservation. So, we work together to help children in local and underprivileged schools, we support our local veterans and gold star families throughout the year and especially at the holidays, and we look to highlight and preserve our Ridgefield history - particularly celebrating the Battle of Ridgefield.
Who do you serve in our community?
We have a special focus on children and veterans needs in the Connecticut and New York areas. Some of our activities this year have included:
Quilts of Valor
History Lectures
America 250 Knitting project for veterans
Patriotic Flower Bulbs and gardening fun at Autumn Ridgefield events
Cookies and Baked Goods for the Veteran's Day event
Adopting a Gold Star family here in Ridgefield
Preparing Thanksgiving Baskets for families and veterans
Wreath Laying Ceremony
Revolutionary War Patriot biographies and gravestone cleaning
Constitution Week events
Collecting food and Hygiene supplies for veterans in need
Participating in the Evelyn C. Peeler Children's Holiday Gift Fund
Working with a Ridgefield Operation for Animal Rescue (ROAR) therapy dog to visit Stadley Rough Elementary School in Danbury - focusing on America 250 learning
Updates on the Battle of Ridgefield Archaeology Project and protecting our historic sites
Valentines for Veterans
The Remembrance Ball and Parade!
What are you most proud of?
In April, we hosted our America 250 Remembrance Parade for the Town of Ridgefield honoring the sacrifices made at the Battle of Ridgefield followed by the Black Tie Remembrance Ball at the Lounsbury House.
This was our first fundraiser and we are so proud to be able to donate $17,000 EACH towards scholarships for graduating Ridgefield students, to Sierra Delta - a charitable organization that provides grants to veterans for service dog training, and to The Ridgefield Historical Society for their work related to the Battle of Ridgefield. PLUS our little chapter donated over 7,400 service hours to America last year alone.
What was the spark that started your organization?
As an organization the Daughters of the American Revolution is over 135 years old and was started by two women from the North and two women from the South in the post civil war reconstruction era. They intended to found a non-political organization permitting women to engage in civil life in ways designed to bring our nation together and focus on points of commonality to heal our nation. At the time, women did not actively participate in community life publicly and these four women were determined to provide a forum for women to work together for the betterment of society.
Our Ridgefield chapter was founded 5 years ago by women who lived in Ridgefield and felt we should have our own group to work on local charity efforts.
What is one of your future impact goals?
While we have many projects in the hopper for the upcoming year, we are looking to identify more veterans, service members, and their families who are in need of support and caring within our local area. So many of our veterans and their families experience life long impacts as a result of their service on our behalf and we want to find ways to lighten those burdens where possible.
How did you change a life?
We ensured that a local Gold Star family including a mother and daughters of a service member who passed away had a special Christmas with dinner and individualized important presents for everyone. This is a quiet engagement that is deeply private but we were able to honor not only the service member, but also seek to the understand the impact on their family left behind. Many of our members hail from military families so we have a special connection and can share the emotional and practical implications of losing a spouse and parent.
Who are your community partners?
We have enjoyed tremendous support for The Remembrance Ball from local vendors and groups. We find ourselves partnering most closely with The Ridgefield Historical Society.
Local-Insta thanks Fairfield County Bank for making our Community Connections series possible!
Celebrating the charities that make our community stronger.
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