Our Mission

The DAPC was founded almost completely by accident.  The charity's founder and President Sean M. Kemmerer is an elected School Board Director for the Derry Area School District.  After a particularly stressful Board meeting around Thanksgiving 2020, Sean was looking for something positive to do in an effort to snap out of his funk.  He went to a local grocery store and bought eight frozen turkeys with the intent to find a few families in need of a nice Thanksgiving meal.

When he stopped by his friend's tavern and told them about his plan, things snowballed quickly.  The restaurant offered to help Sean by not only cooking the turkeys, but offer an entire thanksgiving dinner for anybody who needed one.  Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, salads, rolls, cranberries, even dessert!  Word quickly spread throughout the community, and with only a few days planning, Sean and his friends were able to prepare almost 150 dinners.  They ended up making the news!  With Christmas right around the corner, people began reaching out offering to donate money to cover the cost of meals, to deliver to families who couldn't pick up the meals, and EVERYBODY wanted to bake things for dessert!  Sean realized that he MAY have created a monster, and the Derry Area Philanthropy Committee was inadvertently born!

Today, the group focuses on identify ways to partner with the community to spread a message of positivity and looking out for one another.  "Good Vibes Only" has become more than just a tagline for the DAPC - It is the driving force behind everything that the group does.  

View our Bylaws PDF

Useful Links

Derry Area School District

Derry Township

Director Kemmerer's Facebook Page

DAPC Facebook Group

DAPC Facebook Page

Derry Food Pantry (Westmoreland Co. Food Bank)