What We Do, All Year Long
Royal Family KIDS Marion
We lead the local Royal Family KIDS program through summer camp, mentoring, and Bridge to Belonging for children impacted by abuse, neglect, abandonment, and trauma.
Resource Connection
We connect foster families, kinship families, birth families, caregivers, children, and young adults after foster care to needed resources, care packages, and community support when needs arise.
Starfish Gala & Fundraising Events
We host fundraising events, including the annual Starfish Gala, to help fund Royal Family KIDS, resource connection, and the local work of Be The Village Marion.
Our Story
How It Began
A Different Kind of Calling
We're Ben & Elizabeth Moore. We first got involved with Royal Family KIDS in 2011, shortly after we were married. What started as a week of volunteering changed the direction of our lives.
That experience led us into foster care, adoption, social work, and eventually directing the local Royal Family KIDS.
We saw what a week of safety, joy, and belonging could mean for children impacted by abuse, neglect, abandonment, and foster care. We also began to see how many needs continued after that week was over.
what changed
The Question That Changed the Work
In 2020, when the pandemic kept overnight camp from happening, we still had support to give.
So we asked families one simple question:
What do you need?
Families named practical things: meals, groceries, clothes, gift cards, encouragement, and someone willing to show up when life was hard.
One family needed a refrigerator. Another mom had spent so much time thinking about what her children needed that she did not know how to answer when someone asked what would help her, too.
That question helped give shape to Be The Village Marion.
where we are now
Love in Action, Year-Round
Be The Village Marion exists to help the community show up when needs arise.
Today, we partner with the local Royal Family KIDS. We connect practical resources for children, families, caregivers, and young adults after foster care. We host fundraising events, including the annual Starfish Gala, to help fund the work.
Because some needs are too heavy for one family, one church, one agency, or one week of camp to carry alone.