America 250! Membership Task Force

Christina Bannon, National Chair, America 250! Membership Task Force

Mrs. VanBuren asked me to write a blog about America 250! Membership Task Force (MTF). What should I say? I thought about all the great things we do and the wonderful volunteers that are part of the program. The volunteers are what makes this program work. So here is a little more about the America 250! MTF and how we can help you.

America 250! MTF began back in 2016 when I went on the DAR School Tour. I got a chance to ask Mary Frisch, the Registrar General at the time, if the volunteers who participated in the Member for Member (M4M) program that was ending in March of 2017 could volunteer for a future program. Two months later, Mrs. Frisch contacted me and asked if I was interested in working out a plan to use those M4M volunteers to help chapters. That December, 147 M4M volunteers took the plunge with me and agreed to volunteer for a program to use their skills in some way, to somehow help chapters with difficult papers. We have come a long way since then. March will be our three year anniversary and we are going strong!  Chapters in every state and in units overseas have been helped by us. There are over 1,350 new members because of our efforts.

The 147 volunteers have grown to over 400. There are coordinators to manage volunteers and special team leaders to manage specialized work groups. Our goal is to help Chapter Registrars with difficult applications - get them verified! The 250! Task Force is a tool for the Chapter Registrar just like a reference book in your library. If you need help, take us off the shelf and open us up.  To get help, email [email protected]. We are available for any Chapter Registrar who needs our help.

I keep referring to us as a team. That is what we are. That is our strength. We work in groups and discuss issues together. We have set up small teams by location or by specialized skill. It has been said that “none of us is as smart as all of us” and we believe that.

Here are some common questions we hear: 

  • How long does it take?  One paper took two years, another one week. Our average number of days to get a paper verified is 113 - from volunteer assignment to verification by the genie department. That number is great! Especially considering we are not dealing with easy papers. Many of these applications have multiple issues and location problems.  About half the papers we work on involve a red line, new patriot or a new child of patriot. It takes time and a village to work those problems. The verification rate is 96% for the AIR letter help requests we receive.  
  • Are we are taking the place of the chapter registrar?  No way!  Chapters should consider us a tool to use when needed. Looking at the applications we’ve done, there are few “frequent flyers” - multiple applications from the same chapter. We can count those on one hand. What we are seeing are frustrated registrars trying to handle; an unusual situation, searching for a good line, having to use indirect evidence, or just needing boots on the ground.
  • Should a Chapter Registrar ask her state first? A prospective member’s interest wanes as time goes by and once submitted, you only have two years. The main concern should be to get every application verified as quickly as possible. Review the application’s problem and ask yourself two questions. If your answers are yes, you should work with your state.
    1. Is the information needed to fix the problem located in your State or perhaps available online?
    2. Does your State have the resources to fix it quickly?   

Being a chapter registrar myself, I use my state resources (my state researchers are great, by the way) but I also use the Task Force. Here is a situation where I chose the Task Force.

I live in Illinois and for a paper I was working on needed marriage docs from Kentucky. They weren’t online. I asked 250! MTF. Their research revealed no marriage record.  But thankfully, the volunteer had my whole paper and checked for other options. Seems this family was frequently in court. My proof ended up being a deposition over a pig dispute. The husband sued his father-in-law and named him. I couldn’t have it done it myself and the state ladies couldn’t have either. Certainly not in two weeks.

We are one of the many good options you have to get help for a problem paper. Check out our website for more information and testimonials. Choose whatever option you need, just don’t let your prospective member’s paper languish. If you need us, email [email protected]   

send-a-commentSend Us a comment