DAR Grant Will Help Old St. Peter's Restore Roof

from Mohegan Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution:

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) announced that the organization will be donating $10,000 to Old St. Peter’s Church in Cortlandt, New York, for roof restoration. Funding for this project was made possible through the sponsorship of Mohegan Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution, located in Ossining, New York.

Leah Olsen, Chairman of the Friends of Old St. Peter’s Committee for Restoration and Recognition, said, “I cannot find the words to tell you how honored and blessed we feel to receive such a generous grant for a project that we have been working on for so very long, and a project which we know will keep the history of our Forefathers alive for future generations to come.

"Repairing the roof on this Historic Church from 1767 will complete our goal of completing restoring Old St. Peter’s Church before the Educational Panels from the U. S. Dept. of the Interior arrive, depicting Old St. Peter’s part in the famous Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route. This panel will depict how Old St. Peter’s Church served as a hospital for the injured and dying French Soldiers who fought for the Patriot’s cause during the Revolutionary War.

"Ironically, this Panel will be placed very near to a stone which the Daughters of the American Revolution placed at Old St. Peter’s as part of its 160th anniversary in 1926. It is a honor for our Committee to work closely with The Daughters of the American Revolution during this important phase in the completion of our restoration.” 

The DAR grants program was started in 2010. Funding is awarded to support projects in local communities which promote the organization’s mission areas of historic preservation, education and patriotism. 

The DAR receives hundreds of grants applications each year, making competition high for the funding through the non-profit organization. Interested groups must be sponsored by a local DAR chapter, submit a copy of their public charity 501(c)(3) IRS documentation, and include a narrative describing the need and urgency of the project as well as planned activities and benefits to the community which will result from the grant. 

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in 1890 to promote patriotism, preserve American history, and support better education for our nation’s children. Its members are descended from patriots who won American independence during the Revolutionary War. With 178,000 members in approximately 3,000 chapters worldwide, DAR is one of the world’s largest and most active service organizations. To learn more about the work of today’s DAR, visit www.DAR.org. For more about applying for a Special Projects Grant from DAR, visit www.dar.org/grants. 

For more information, please contact Mary Joan Amesbury, Chapter Regent, at (914) 245-9594 or visit www.nydar.org/chapters/mohegan.html.