Let's Set a World Record in Patriotism!

DAR’s letter writing campaign to establish a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ™ title is in full swing!  Members across the country are writing letters to military personnel to reach our goal of  10,000 letters to establish the world record “Most Letters to Military Personnel Collected in One Month.”   All letters need to be brought to Washington, D.C. to be collected and counted in June at DAR Headquarters during Continental Congress.

To be a part of this great effort simply write a handwritten thank you letter to someone on active duty.  The rules are:

• The letter must contain 3 basic parts: an initial greeting (Dear Sgt. Smith), a message (i.e. I would like to thank you for your service) and a sign off (e.g. Love/Thanks/Sincerely NAME OF PARTICIPANT).
• Each letter must be handwritten. Each individual participant can only contribute one letter.   Participants do NOT have to be DAR members to contribute a letter. People of any age may participate.
• The envelope must bear a first class stamp and a return address.  Printed address labels may be used (they do not need to be handwritten).  Children may use their school address instead of their home address.  The envelope must be delivered UNSEALED.  The official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ™ Adjudicator will be opening and inspecting random samples during the verification process.
• Letters may be addressed to an active duty individual you know personally, to a specific military personnel listed on the DAR Website. Multiple letters can be sent to the same address. The individuals listed on the DAR website have volunteered to distribute letters to their fellow military members, so in the salutation of your letter you can write either “Dear [and the person’s name]” or “Dear Service Member”.
• Letters must be hand delivered to DAR Headquarters Monday, June 13 – Friday, June 17 of   Congress week. There will be specific locations at DAR Headquarters for members to deliver their letters. They may be delivered by anyone from your chapter or state going to Congress.  Letters should be bundled in groups of 50 to aid in establishing the official count.

Letters will be logged in with time and date at collection stations during Congress.  Volunteers are needed to help with the letter collection. Please notify Leslie Pfeifer, [email protected], if you would like to take a two hour shift and assist with this exciting project!

This is a great DAR Project Patriot activity for your chapter! Invite C.A.R. societies, service clubs, local schools, work colleagues, churches, etc. to also join in the letter writing campaign so we can gather even more letters! 

Visit the World Record webpage on the DAR Website for more information on the project. Click on “Member Resources” and “Guinness World Records Attempt™ ”  or visit www.dar.org/WorldRecord to find military addresses and the complete list of official rules.  Also, you may email individual questions to  [email protected].

Write your letter today and encourage others in your community to participate to be a part of the grand finale to both the Celebrate America! and Celebrate 125! commemorations and help NSDAR set a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title!