Projects

The John Hoyle Chapter supports many projects that help us achieve our goals of historic preservation, patriotism, and education. These are a few of our on-going activities:

• John Hoyle Chapter Patriot Ancestor Book — Each chapter member is writing a small story or article about her Revolutionary War ancestor. Included with the story will be the member’s direct lineage to that person. The information about the patriots will be assembled into a book that the chapter will publish. One copy will be donated to the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) library in Washington, DC, and one to each of our local libraries. We hope to include every chapter member’s ancestor and lineage in this book.
• Crossnore & “Bird Cage” gifts — Throughout the year, our chapter donates a variety of items to Crossnore School, an 88-year-old private, non-profit children’s home and school in Crossnore, North Carolina. “Bird Cage” refers to unwrapped gifts appropriate for children ages 5 to 18 — such as socks, underwear, clothing, dolls, trucks, games, sports equipment, suitcases and duffel bags, cameras, photo albums, frames, radios, cassettes, wallets, handbags, watches and jewelry, to be given at birthdays and Christmas. We also donate cleaning, school and party supplies, and personal hygiene items.
• Yellow School Bus — The toy bus at the head table at each of our meetings reminds us to support DAR schools.
• Service to Veterans — Our chapter supports veterans by supplying various comfort items for patients at Oteen Veterans Administration Hospital near Asheville. These may include personal hygiene items, handkerchiefs, denture supplies, western and mystery novels, magazines (within last three months), envelopes, writing paper, postage stamps, pens, pencils, sugar-free candies, toboggans, socks, suspenders, house slippers with non-skid soles, pajamas and robes, crossword puzzle books, Nerf balls, puzzles, and cards. More information and instructions to make lap robes, bibs, ditty bags, and wheel chair utility bags are available.
• Project Patriot — John Hoyle Chapter sends cards and notes to active service personnel and provides phone cards for them. DAR Project Patriot is the official Daughters of the American Revolution committee that supports America’s service personnel in current conflicts abroad.
• Cancelled Stamps — We collect cancelled stamps from mail, excluding flag stamps. These are used for veterans’ projects.
• Ink Cartridges, Soup Labels, etc. — Used printer ink cartridges are used to raise funds for Crossnore School. Please place them in a plastic bag so they will not leak in transit. We also send Campbell soup labels and “Box Tops for Education” to Crossnore School.
• Raffles — Occasionally, members of our chapter will bake cakes or donate other items for raffles during our meetings. Proceeds help defray expenses of special projects such as marking graves of Revolutionary War soldiers in our area.
• John Hoyle Chapter Scholarship — The John Hoyle Chapter Scholarship was established in 2006 to assist worthy women pursuing higher education at an accredited college or university. Please visit our Scholarships and Contests page for more information.
• Little Red School House — There is a “Little Red School House” box at the sign-in table for our monthly meetings, which is available for donations to benefit the John Hoyle Scholarship fund.