By Chester Moore Jr.

Erin Beard of Vidor has loved wolves for as long as she can remember.
And when the seventh grader got to look one eye to eye through the lens of a camera, she was blown away.
“It was beautiful and amazing to be able to capture images of it,” she said.
Beard’s photo of an endangered red wolf along with numerous others will be on display at the Kingdom Zoo Wildlife Photography Gala brought to you by Liz Hogan Allstate.
The event will take place 6:30 p.m., Thursday, June 11 at The Garden District in Orange.
“We have been working with a core group of kids for the last three years and this project is something we are very excited about. Over the last six months we have taken these kids and photographed native Southeast Texas wildlife and a couple of exotics and the experience has bene tremendous,” said Chester Moore of Kingdom Zoo.
Kingdom Zoo is an outreach of Children’s Kingdom Ministries, founded by Moore and his wife Lisa. The gala is aimed at giving the kids credit for their hard work and to raise funds for a special project.
“My grandmother Ruby Pickard founded My Wish Inc. in 1982 to grant wishes for terminally ill children. I went with her on that very first wish when a little boy who had leukemia ask for a simple American flag,” Moore said.
“To honor my grandmother, we do a program called “Wild Wishes” where we grant animal encounters for children who have a terminal illness or have suffered a loss like a sibling or parent. We are about to grant our fifth wish and couldn’t be more excited.”
All proceeds from the gala benefit the “Wild Wishes” program.
The event is invite only but Moore said they have held back a few seats for members of the public who want to attend. Anyone interested can email him at chester@kingdomzoo.com.