Freehold Elks Lodge Honors Scout at Charity Ball

Tommy Welch, 19, of Atlantic Highlands, was the guest of at the Freehold Elks Lodge Special Children’s Committee Annual Charity Ball on Saturday, Feb. 12.

The Freehold Elks have held the event for nearly 40 years, according to Patricia Hamilton, a member of the Special Children’s Committee. Each year, a child from the Elks’ Boy Scout Troop 454 is honored at the ball. The troop, which meets at and is sponsored by the lodge, includes special needs children from Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Marlboro and Manalapan, as well as other towns outside the greater Freehold area.

“The most fulfilling thing we do all year is to host this,” Hamilton said.

The funds raised at the ball and through the event’s ad journal help support the troop as well as send children to Elks Camp Moore in Haskell.

“Camp Moore is strictly for special needs children. It’s at no cost to the children. About 120 lodges send children to the camp. Last year, we sponsored 13 or 14 children,” Hamilton said.

While Tommy Welch has not attended Elks Camp Moore, his mother, Louise Welch, said he has gone on many camping trips sponsored by the Monmouth Council of the Boy Scouts of America at Forestburg Scout Reservation in Forestburg, NY.

“He calls it his home away from home,” Lousie Welch said.

Joining the Boy Scout Troop 454 has made a tremendous difference in Tommy Welch’s life, his mother noted.

“This troop has done so much for him,” she said.

One of the highlights of Tommy Welch’s scouting life was representing special needs scouts and giving a short speech during the New Jersey Boys Scouts of America’s annual report at the Statehouse in 2007. Learning he was to be honored by the Freehold Elks Lodge was another high point for Tommy Welch, according to his mother.

“It really is something that made his day,” Louise Welch said.