About C&O Canal Trust

Founded in 2007, the C&O Canal Trust is the official non-profit partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The mission is to partner with the National Park Service to protect, restore, and promote the C&O Canal. The Trust engages communities and individuals to realize the Park’s historical, natural, and recreational potential.

The C&O Canal National Historical Park is the 8th most visited unit within the National Park System, welcoming nearly 5 million visitors a year. (This is more visitors than signature parks like Yellowstone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon host a year!) The C&O Canal Trust works in partnership with the C&O Canal National Historical Park to raise funds and resources to support maintenance and visitor programs in the Park.

About the Bench Donation Program

In the fall of 2017, Daofeng and Angela Foundation entered into a 6-year bench sponsorship agreement with the Trust to install new benches in the Park. The sponsorship is one of the largest individual gifts ever received by the Trust and helps to meet a critical need for seating along the canal where visitors can stop and rest to enjoy the peace and beauty of the C&O Canal and Potomac River. The donation also aims to encourage volunteerism in the community. The benches are installed by volunteers from the C&O Canal Association.

To learn more about the benches already installed in the Park, please visit the Benches on the C&O Canal page.

Project Data Disclosure

By the end of 2022, Daofeng and Angela Foundation has provided more than US$ 240,000 to install 55 benches along the length of the C&O Canal National Historical Park.

The locations where the 50 benches were installed are shown below. The additional 5 benches will be installed in 2023.

“The number one request we hear from visitors to the Park is for benches, and our fundraising partner, the C&O Canal Trust, has been working with donors to bring benches to the Park,” said Kevin Brandt, the Superintendent of the C&O Canal NHP. “This generous donation will be truly appreciated by many people who need a place to rest, meet friends, or just enjoy the peace and beauty of the Park.”

“We are so grateful to Daofeng and Angela for making this exceptionally generous donation,” Robin Zanotti, the C&O Canal Trust President said. “We have placed many benches in the eastern end of the Park, but before this gift, only one bench has been installed upstream of Great Falls – at Monocacy Aqueduct.  This new gift from Daofeng and Angela will provide for benches in the western part of the Park, and we are very pleased that visitors will benefit from their generosity. We are working with the National Park Service and the C&O Canal Association to identify bench locations where they are most needed and where visitors can stop to enjoy some of the Park’s most beautiful and interesting features.”