Mideast District, NSDAR Supports RUNG for Women

Rung for Women, a nonprofit organization now located in the Fox Park neighborhood of St. Louis, began as a retail store in April of 2010 to help women and their careers through affordable consignment business clothing. By 2016, Rung began cultivating extensive market research on how to better serve women in the community. This research led them to close their retail store in September of 2017, at which time they began working with new partners to provide women of the St. Louis area with the resources they need to succeed in their careers. Members gain valuable skills and access to training and credential opportunities that ensure a fast-track to a high-demand job with a family-sustaining wage or a pathway to grow in their current field.

Rung’s program caught the attention of Constance Hawley, of the Cornelia Greene Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (NSDAR). As one part of their overall mission, NSDAR’s Women’s Issue Committee focuses on Health, Career, and Family, educating and empowering their members to serve the Society and their communities. Service ideas range from unique-to-women health issues to the realities of being a multigenerational, family caregiver; from booting up to serve our country away from home to embracing women’s well-being and career success.

Hawley immediately saw how objectives of both organizations aligned and initiated a relationship with the leadership of Rung. The Missouri State Society Daughters of the American Revolution (MSSDAR) has over 5,600 Daughters in 105 chapters across the state. The Mideast District of MSSDAR contains 14 chapters, the Cornelia Greene Chapter being one, to which Hawley belongs.

A plan was borne for the Mideast District of MSSDAR to support Rung through an initiative that would be helpful to them. As part of Rung’s program, food is grown onsite which feeds Rung members and food-insecure-residents of the surrounding neighborhood. Rung’s onsite farmer, Ro, engages Rung members in garden lessons and workshops to build skills that help participants achieve food sovereignty for themselves and their families.

MSSDAR’s Mideast District Director, Zenda Folta, adopted a plan for the District’s Chapters to donate tools and products for Rung gardens. These tools will assist Rung in the growth of their vegetables, fruit and produce grown on the farm. The plan was a collaborative effort of the MSSDAR Chapters and was a resounding success.

To learn more about Rung’s program, please visit https://rungforwomen.org/our-program/.

If you want to participate in the many projects and activities of “Today’s DAR,” please visit https://mssdar.org, where you will learn more about the DAR story and how to become a member. The MSSDAR Chapter Locator page will assist you in contacting a chapter near you.