The Army of Hope is a program of the Florida State Elks Association established in 2007. Its mission is to provide aid assistance to the families of deceased, disabled, and deployed members of the military.
The families of Florida active duty military personnel, military reservists, Coast Guard, the National Guard, and/or their dependents are eligible. An active duty member stationed in Florida with his/her dependents would qualify as a Florida resident.
Since its inception, the Army of Hope has raised $620,208 and distributed $508,591 for families of deployed military members. The help our members give through the Florida Army of Hope allows the military member to safely concentrate on his/her duties without worrying about the family at home. The Army of Hope also assists returning veterans with costs to re-establish their civilian life after deployment.
In 2009 the Army of Hope began bringing dependent children of deployed military personnel to our Florida Elks Youth Camp. It has been a great opportunity for the kids to relax with their peers and enjoy our great camp.
Army of Hope Policy & Procedure information is available here. Individual aid requests may be made by submitting a completed Assistance Request Form to our Lodge and by contacting our Veterans Services Subcommitte Chairman, Craig Waskow, PER, here. The Lodge will review the request and submit it to the District Veterans’ Service Chairman. The District Chairman will then submit the request for final approval to the Army of Hope Committee.
The time to process an application for aid may take as long as four weeks. Emergency requests may be expedited at the request of a local Lodge.
Districts throughout the state hold fundraisers for the Army of Hope.
Our lodge will be hosting two Southeast Central District fundraising events to benefit the Army of Hope. At 2:00 pm on Sunday, January, 12, 2022 we will host a Texas Hold’em Tournament and on Saturday, January 29 at 7:30 pm we will host a concert by Re-Creation USA (pictured below).
The 2021 Southeast Central(SEC) District Army of Hope Charity Classic at Jensen Beach Golf Club raised over $10,000 for Army of Hope! The 2022 Army of Hope Golf Classic will probably be at Hammock Creek Golf Club in Palm City/Stuart area. If anyone wants to reserve a team slot or help with the tournament they can send an email to aohgolf2022@.gmail.com. The date, hopefully, will be Sunday, 1 May, 2022. 1:00 pm shotgun start!
