Toms River Elks Hosting Festival Of Trees Fundraiser Thursday

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Elks Club will be hosting its 5th annual Festival of Trees Charity Fundraiser on Dec. 13. the organization announced.

The annual event raises funds for a variety of organizations and is held at the Toms River Elks Lodge 1875 on Washington Street. It runs from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and there will be dancing and live music all night from Ocean County Jazz Band, Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, Lillian Dean Dance Studio and the Brother Pete Duo and more.

The event will include their first ever Grinch-a-thon for the kids, with games, movies and crafts in the Whoville room. There also will be complimentary refreshments and desserts, including an indoor s'mores and hot chocolate bar all night. There also will be a MEGA 50/50 raffle.

The main event is voting for the charities by making donations at their trees. Voting ends at 8:30 p.m. at which point donations to all of the charities will be tallied, with $1 equalling one vote; the top organizations will receive several cash prizes from the Toms River Elks Lodge and 100 percent of the donations they received.

Donations can be made ahead of time as well.

Those planning to attende are urged to carpool to the family-friendly event, which is free and open to the public.

The following charities are participating this year:

• HAVEN/Beat The Streets
• Interfaith Hospitality Network Of Ocean County
• Garden State Philharmonic Youth Orchestra
• Always Supporting Our Military
• Seer Farms
• Your Grandmother's Cupboard
• Ocean County Youth Partnership
• Helping Families In Need
• All About Them Giant Breed Rescue
• Ocean's Harbor House
• Brandon's Elves
• Moms Demand Action -NJ
• RedeemHer
• Fountains of Hope
• SAVE Pet Rescue
• BFF Dog Rescue NJ
• Associates Humane Society/ Popcorn Park
• O.C.E.A.N, Inc. Head Start
• Point Pleasant Challenger Play Football
• Boy Scouts Troop 50
• A Need We Feed
• Christ Church
• Hope Sheds Light
• A Need We Feed
• Cub Scouts 175
• Ma Deuce Deuce Veterans Organization
• Ocean of Love For Children With Cancer
• SIBShops At Camp Zehnder
• Soroptimists of the Central Jersey Coast
• Girl Scout Troop 383

For more information call 732-814-9933 or send an email to tomsriverelks@outlook.com.

Click here for the Facebook event.

Photo by David Allen/Patch