CLARK COUNTY, Ky. (LEX News) — Liz and Ben Shemwell turn their son Marco's birthday into a celebration of kindness, assembling birthday boxes for children in need across several counties.
Marco's favorite superhero was Batman.
"Batman was his favorite superhero because if you ask him why, he would say because he helps people," Liz Shemwell said.
That spirit of helping others is at the heart of the Marco Shemwell Foundation, which Liz started after Marco's first birthday without him.
"Keeping in the spirit of Marco, who always wanted to help people, I wanted to kind of do the same by celebrating his birthday in a way that we could help people. So, I thought let's do something like birthday boxes," Liz said.
She expected to make around 100. The community had other ideas.
"We ended up doing 1,000 birthday boxes and from that point forward, it's continued every year," Liz said.
Each box gives a child everything they need to celebrate, from cake mix and frosting to a birthday card and a gift.
"Everything that we do in the spirit of Marco Shemwell Foundation is in the spirit of Marco, and we try to be very much in line with the kind of child he was, which was high energy. He got that from me," Liz said.
The foundation is hosting its birthday box event for the 2nd year in a row at Baker Intermediate School in Winchester on August 23 from 4 to 6 p.m.
Those boxes now reach children through schools across several counties, carrying a piece of Marco's memory with them.
"The reason we're doing this is not just so that we get to remember Marco, but so that we get to remind people and give people a little bit of Marco too," Liz said.
For Ben Shemwell, Marco's father, the community's support carries special weight this time of year.
"It's a constant like daily emotion that you're with as you're still parenting boys, but you've lost a son also, and at this time of year, when his birthday rolls around, that support means even more," Ben Shemwell said.
